Darkness Consumes
by Vrimbal
Summary: When a human meets a creature removed from time against its will, the human makes a decision that becomes life changing for everyone involved. (Spoilers and headcanons ahead. Rating changed due to language, possible violence later on.)
1. Chapter 1

_Visions. Strange visions, coming and going, things unrecognizable, things unknown. The figure watched them intently, attempting to concentrate on at least one vision, to try to make sense of it. But it could not, and the visions came and went just like that. But the visions never truly left, as all that needed to be done was to think about them._

 _So it stopped thinking, but only for a moment. After all, that was all it could do in this place. It opened its eyes, and saw nothingness, as it had for as long as it had been here. What was this, anyway? It really mattered not to the figure. This was all it had known, at least for as long as it cared to recall. The infinite darkness felt all-consuming, as though it were always swallowing the figure. It felt nothing. Yet, at the same time, it felt everything. Every laugh, every cry, every moment of joy, every moment of loss. It had witnessed a time before, a time where it, too, once was... alive._

 _The word stuck to the figure's metaphorical throat as that strange thought entered its mind. Was it once a living creature? Did it have a life before? Did it once exist? It had to have, as it seemed to be reliving memories it had no recollection about, memories of a life once lived, being... happy? What a bizarre thing to feel. Had the figure once felt it?_

 _...Why were these strange thoughts and visions occurring now, of all times? Had something changed? The figure then remembered. It was watching what it knew as "the real world". A place filled with life, filled with others bustling to and fro, constantly moving, always changing. As the figure watched what it assumed was "living people", its attention was caught by a particular being. Unidentifiable, unfortunately. The figure focused on this creature, and suddenly a strange sensation washed over it. It was a familiarity, something it had once known._

 _Suddenly, colors. All of them, hundreds upon hundreds. Differing shades of blues, purples, reds, oranges... the figure had not realized that, until this moment, its view had been monochromatic. Nothing but black, gray, and white. Why were colors suddenly coming back? It did not know. However, the figure knew one thing was for certain; it wanted, more than anything else before this, to live in that world. One full of color, life, and happiness._

 _But how? The figure was in nothingness, nary a soul was present. Soul? Did it have a soul? Why does it know that word? At this thought, the figure felt a different feeling, one it realized almost immediately it had forgotten, one that it had before. It suddenly had a longing to embrace that feeling, a wish to eradicate the loneliness it had not known it had been feeling for so long. That strange, new yet somehow old feeling._

 _Hope._

* * *

This place was very damp, he now noticed. Damp and slightly chilly. Even with the sweater he was wearing, the slight cold somehow got to him. He was told this place was called Waterfall, but for some reason didn't expect this type of climate. Why would he not, though? He was underground, after all. But wasn't this a volcano? Shouldn't it be hot under here? Whatever, he didn't want to think about that right now. He figured the massive levels of trapped, concentrated magic probably had something to do with it.

He continued on his way through the deep purple caverns, reading the plaques hanging on the walls that told the history of this place, brief as it was. He learned of a war between the humans and the monsters. He learned that both had souls, and that human souls would persist after the death of the host. He shuddered, not wanting to think about what would have happened had those flowers in the ruins not somehow broken his fall. However, the idea of a war between the two species intrigued him, not because he was interested in reigniting that old flame, but because history itself had always had a firm grasp on his mind. He loved learning of the past, and what predictions it held for the future. He began to think about what that war had been like, almost entranced in the idea of seeing it for himself. He would not actually partake in such mindless activities, as the idea of killing or even bringing harm to another living being brought him heartache, but he would have loved to at least witness it, if only for educational purposes. Perhaps even learn of a way to have prevented it altogether.

He wandered onward, lost in thought, only to appear on what he realized was a bridge. Getting a strange gut feeling and being removed from his thoughts, he froze, eyes wide as a magical blue spear landed mere inches away from him. He knew immediately what this was, and glanced to his left quickly, spotting a large, armor-clad figure staring him down. He ran as fast as he could, knowing the figure was out for blood; his blood. He was forced to dodge spears that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and knew that if he stopped, he'd be pierced.

He continued to run, for what felt like hours but was in actuality only minutes. He sped up some when he spotted some more of the tall grass that had hidden him well previously. He froze when he got to the center of the grass, trying his hardest to contain his breathing, and stopping breathing entirely when he heard the loud footsteps of the armor-clad figure approaching. His heart began to pound against his chest so hard he thought the figure would be able to hear it, when it suddenly stopped. He heard the figure reach down into the grass, freeze for a few seconds, then reach down into the grass once more. Waiting a few seconds longer, he then heard the figure leave. Waiting long enough for the now distant footsteps to completely disappear, he sighed and almost sank onto the ground in relief.

After resting for a moment, he made his way out of the grass, towards what he hoped was the end of the damp caverns. Upon stepping out of the grass, he heard another rustling come from behind him, and froze once more. _Oh god oh god oh god it came back and it found me and now I'm going to die oh god no no no._ He very slowly turned his head towards what made the noise, and almost met with the ground upon seeing what it was that had followed him out of the grass with a hearty "Yo!"

 _Monster Kid! You nearly gave me a heart attack!_ He thought to himself, watching as the strange, armless child ran ahead of him after saying something about never washing their face again. Regaining his composure, he moved onward, passing by a table that had some cheese encased in a bizarre crystal. _Huh, wonder how this got here..._ Deciding to ignore it, he continued on, down a hallway. The hallway had a... strange feeling to it. Walking down this hallway rather slowly and cautiously, he spotted a door on the left wall. He approached it, slowly bringing his hand up to the doorknob.

The doorknob was cold, and suddenly, so was he. An unnatural cold at that, as though all of his meager existence was suddenly drained from him. Choosing to ignore the sudden feelings of "I shouldn't be here", he meekly pulled the door open, just wide enough for him to squeeze himself inside. The room he'd found himself in was basically colorless, with a white floor and blackness as the walls that seemed to stretch upward infinitely. Looking at it, he almost felt himself get sucked into nothingness, that if he were to touch it, he would become trapped.

It was then that he noticed something. A figure. Not the one that had been chasing him down, but a different one. Tall and dark. It seemed to be lifeless, motionless. He approached it with the gentleness that would be found in a creature wracked with fear and curiosity all the same. As he got slowly closer, the figure jerked up what he assumed was its head, and stared at him with empty eye sockets. He felt rather unnerved by the lack of physical or even magical eyes. He froze for what had to have been the third time that day. He and the figure stared at one another, seemingly forever. When the figure did nothing else, he continued his approach, curiosity completely overtaking all his other senses for the time. Once he felt he was close enough, he stopped once more, tilting his head slightly to the right.

The figure mirrored this action. He returned his head to a natural position.

The figure did the same. It was now that he noticed two large cracks in its skull. How he had initially missed those, he had no idea. They were rather obvious. One crack was going upward from its right eye and likely to the back of its head, the other going down toward the hole he assumed was a mouth. Its mouth seemed to be stuck in a perpetual smile that told of pain, loss, and torment. He then spotted what he had to guess were its hands; large white shapes with what seemed to be gaping holes in each.

This strange figure looked... incomplete. He felt sorry for it, not knowing if it knew the state of its appearance, or if it simply didn't care. Maybe it couldn't care. That thought made him inwardly shudder. He hoped this figure was not harmful or hateful in any capacity. But, if it was, it likely would have attacked him by now. Instead it was simply... sitting there. He hoped it wouldn't suddenly attack him, then wondered if it even could attack him. Curious, he slowly raised a hand, stopping when his hand was about even with his eyes. The figure slowly did the same, stopping its hand when it was level with his own. Getting a strange idea, he leaned forward ever so slightly, just enough that his hand would be able to come into contact with the figure's.

It did not. His hand phased through. He gasped lightly, leaned back and quickly returned his hand to its spot at his side in one swift motion. He noticed the figure move its hand down just slightly, and saw a look of despair cross its facial features. Had he hurt the figure's feelings with that action? Did it even have feelings? The look on its face seemed to indicate as much. The idea of this figure... this creature, not having feelings made his own features fall slightly. Upon noticing the creature looking down, both literally and figuratively, he dared to make another move. Not a physical one, though. He did something he hoped he wouldn't regret.

"Who... are... you?" he asked, spooked at how loud his voice suddenly seemed in this empty void. He saw the creature jump with surprise upon him speaking, then begin to slowly relax itself. He was now unsure if the creature understood him, not expecting a reply. The creature cocked its head to the side once again, and now he felt sure it didn't. He sighed quietly.

[Who... am... I?] came the creature's own voice, sounding distant and garbled. Were those words? They didn't sound like any language he'd heard. Was that a language? Without realizing it, he'd taken a step back in surprise at the creature speaking. He returned himself to his position before the creature, and dared once more to speak.

"Do you... understand... me?" he asked, pointing to himself as if that would help make the question more understandable. The creature then pointed to itself, and once more cocked its head to the side. He sighed again, feeling as though he were getting nowhere. At least he knew it was sentient.

Deciding he was wasting his time with this, he turned to leave, taking barely a step before he felt coldness pass through his shoulder. He spun around and saw the creature holding up its hand, looking alone and sad. He felt sorrowful suddenly, figuring he was the first contact with another living thing this creature has had in, possibly, quite some time. He glanced at the ground.

"You... want me... to stay?" he questioned, looking back up. He didn't think the creature would respond or even understand what he was saying, but to his surprise, the creature slowly nodded. _So it does understand me. Too bad I can't understand it..._ He shifted a bit, glancing at the ground once more. He couldn't stay here, he had things to do. But, he didn't want to leave the lonely creature here.

"Would you... maybe, like to go with me? I can't stay here, but if you wa-" he began, but the creature lowered its head and interrupted him.

[I do not... believe I am... able to leave... this room...] came its voice, still distant and garbled, now also sounding strained.

"... I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying to me," he replied, disappointment in his voice. The creature quickly looked up at him, then lowered its head once more, clearly distraught. How was he supposed to communicate with something he couldn't understand? This was clearly a one-sided conversation, so what was he supposed to do? They looked at each other, the human becoming frustrated that he couldn't talk to the lonely creature. He wished he had some paper or something to write things down.

Out of nowhere, the creature before him lowered its head, then closed its eye sockets. Was it thinking? Was it planning something? Was it going to attack him? If it wanted to, it would have, he was sure. He removed that thought once more from his mind, common sense basically telling him he was crazy for thinking that. He stood there, confusion washing over him once more. The creature did nothing for a short while, then lifted its head.

Suddenly, he noticed the creature begin to move its hands. His eyes widened, recognizing what the creature was doing.

 **Do you know sign language?** it asked. He was shocked that it knew what he thought was a human language. He suddenly had the biggest grin on his face.

 **Yes!** he replied rapidly. The creature's features rose, presumably feeling elated that they could actually communicate properly. Both of them seemed grateful that the other was capable of such a feat. Happily, he tried once more. **Since I couldn't get an answer, I want to ask again. Who are you?** he signed, eagerly awaiting a response. The creature suddenly froze, then looked taken confused.

 **My name? Is that what you are asking?** questioned the creature. He nodded. Slowly, the creature made letters with its hands. **Gaster.** It stopped, a look of loss on its face. _Strange..._ It signed more. **What is your name?**

 **Funny, you're the first person to ask that! My name is Frisk!** he replied enthusiastically. The creature he now knew as Gaster smiled.

 **It is a pleasure to meet you, Frisk,** it said. **I apologize that we are unable to shake hands,** it continued. Frisk shrugged.

 **It's alright. I was just surprised that my hand went through you. Are you a ghost, like Napstablook?** he asked. Gaster looked confused at the name, then chuckled almost regretfully.

 **In a sense, yes. I am trapped here in this nothingness. I have been for quite some time,** it explained. A pit suddenly formed in Frisk's stomach. That sounded awful, and Frisk wondered how much time this creature had spent in this empty void of space. It had to be boring and, well, lonely. That would explain why the creature didn't want him to go. He frowned, realizing that he'd have to leave Gaster here, alone once more. Gaster cocked its head. **Is there a problem, child?** it asked. Frisk sighed, for likely the hundredth time. He didn't want to leave it alone again. That's not right. But...

 **Sort of. I... can't stay here,** he replied, noting Gaster had dropped its head slightly, still looking at him. **I have other things I need to do. I want to help free the monsters here.** Gaster looked at the floor, and without looking back up, replied.

 **I see.** Frisk felt like he might be sick. He snapped to get Gaster to look back up at him.

 **I really don't want to leave you alone again, though. I can't imagine how lonely you must feel, being trapped in here.** Gaster looked equal parts happy and sad. Frisk thought for a moment, suddenly getting an idea. **I know I said I can't stay here, but maybe I can come back and visit when I help free the monsters?** he suggested, a small, hopeful smile forming on his mouth. Gaster simply stared at him, likely shocked at the suggestion. It lowered its eyes. Was it upset now? Did Frisk say something bad to it? Did he somehow sign that question incorrectly? He hoped not.

 **As much as I would appreciate that, I am... unsure... if that will be possible. I cannot maintain my connection to this world for long,** it told him.

 _Well, there went that idea... wait._

 **If you can't stay here for long... were you...** Frisk signed, suddenly shaky. He slowly backed away from Gaster, fear suddenly taking over. Gaster looked surprised, and must have realized what it said, as it quickly worked to fix the issue.

 **No, no, no! I was not planning to bring you with me, or bring any harm to you! I simply enjoyed the company! I wanted someone to speak with until I could stay no longer!** Desperation and sorrow was plastered all over its face now. Frisk relaxed, then started to chuckle.

 _Of course it doesn't want to hurt me, if it did, it would have by now! Jeez, did I really think that?_

 **I'm sorry for the rushed assumption, that was kind of dumb. I didn't mean to offend you like that!** he replied. Gaster nodded, likely accepting the apology. **So, how long do you think you have?** Gaster made a small gesture, likely a sigh of relief.

 **I do not know, but it is certainly not long.** Frisk shrugged.

 **Will you at least be able to tell when your time is up?**

 **Most likely, yes.** Frisk smiled, and decided to take a seat in front of Gaster, who smiled and shrunk down as much as it could, now closer to Frisk's level. They sat there and talked for quite some time. Frisk learned that Gaster was what is known as the royal scientist, a position regarded highly among monsters. He learned that Gaster had been working on its own way to free the monsters from the underground, but had several other projects it worked on, such as the core Frisk had not come across yet.

He learned that Gaster had been taken away from the living world through an accident involving what it called a timeline machine. It explained to him that the machine was meant to be able to detect anomalies and irregularities in the time-space continuum, and that the machine was also meant to be capable of traveling to different timelines. He told Gaster that if it wasn't comfortable telling that particular story, it didn't have to. It informed him that it was in the past, and it had come to terms with what had happened.

So Gaster told him of the accident involving the machine, that while working on ideas and preparing a particular test that day, it had tripped over some wires, and fell forward into the chamber of the machine that would have housed test subjects. Gaster informed him upon seeing his face that it would never use a living subject without prior approval, and that the test subject for that day was meant to be a coffee mug. Frisk sighed in relief at that knowledge, and allowed Gaster to finish its story.

Gaster told him that upon falling into the chamber of the machine, the door closed on its own, the machine somehow activated, and almost immediately, its physical body was torn to shreds, its conscience shattered and lost in this nothingness. Frisk asked if it knew how the machine activated, and was told that no, it did not. Frisk suggested perhaps it was sabotage, and Gaster informed him, swore up and down, that it was the only living thing present in the test room at the time of the incident. Frisk frowned at this and, not wanting to talk about it anymore, asked Gaster if it would like to move on to a new subject. Gaster nodded.

He learned, through more history, that Gaster was a father of two, and was secretly glad to finally have a gender associated with the name. Not interested in learning how a skeleton, which he'd also learned is what Gaster was even though he'd guessed that based on the more formed, bony hands and cracked skull, could reproduce, he decided to skip ahead and ask Gaster who his children were. It was only then that Gaster stopped, and lowered his head.

 **What's wrong, Gaster?** he asked, after getting the scientist to look back up long enough to sign the question. **Are you disappearing?** Gaster shook his head.

 **No, no. I am... unsure if I should tell you about my children. They... do not remember me. Nobody seems to,** he replied, a depressed expression clear on his features. **Frankly, I am unsure if you will remember me upon exiting this void.** He suddenly looked like he might cry. Can skeletons cry? If they could reproduce, Frisk figured they could probably cry. Likely magic tears, he mused. **It seems that, ever since the accident, everyone has forgotten I ever existed. I am afraid that you will forget me, as well.**

 **Well, why don't we test that? I can step outside momentarily, and if I come back in and remember, then we'll know!** he suggested eagerly. Gaster cocked his head to the side, a quizzical expression on his face.

 **I suppose that could be worth a try. I do hope you are capable of returning.** Frisk grinned, and stood up, still looking at the scientist.

 **Me, too. Okay! I'll be right back, hopefully!** And with that, he ran to the door, and reached for the doorknob. He stopped for a second, glancing back at Gaster who was watching him with hope in his eyes. He then exited the room.


	2. Chapter 2

As Gaster watched Frisk leave the room, he allowed his face to fall to a more fearful expression. He was unsure if Frisk would return and, honestly, it scared him. _I do not wish to be alone anymore. Maybe I deserve this fate, though. After all, it was my own foolishness that caused this outcome. My own desires to truly free my fellow monsters from this hellhole we call a home. Perhaps I do not deserve companionship, let alone from one as pure and innocent as that human child. I suppose I am doomed to spend eternity here, and perhaps it is for the best._

 _Still, the child does fill me with something I thought long lost. It seems to truly care for my well-being, though I could not possibly imagine why that would be. It has only just met me. And yet, the child seems to... care, it seems to truly want to help everyone. Perhaps even myself. No, no, that is a ridiculous notion. My miserable existence is already fated to remain here. It is not possible for me to return._

 _Is it?_

 _The longer I remain connected to this world, the more I feel that, perhaps, I am wrong. But is it worthwhile? No living soul remembers who I once was._

 _...Soul. I believe I had one once. I wonder if I still do. I cannot feel its presence, and thus I am unsure if it still remains. It is possible that it, too, was destroyed. It is also possible that, since this form is simply a shadow of sorts, I cannot feel life._

 _The more time I spend here, the more... complete... I feel myself become. Why is that? Is it because of my previous connection to this world? Is it because of my will to be? As I was speaking with the human child, my hands took a clearer form. They now look like hands. Is that a related occurrence? This simple shadow form feels like something more than just an empty vessel._

 _In fact, how was I even able to make this form? Or this small piece of this void that is somehow connected to the real world? Why are all these strange memories returning to me so suddenly? As I spoke with the child, more and more of them became known, resurfaced. Is this all related to my will to remain? Not that it truly matters, my will is not powerful enough to do anything more than create this miserable form. I should not even be here. Yet... it feels as if something is wanting me to stay. I can feel the ebb and flow of time, and it wants to take me back to that place, but it seems to be failing. Could that child have something to do with this?_

 _...The child has not returned. I should have known. My miserable existence is not worth the time of anyone, especially the child. They seem to think otherwise, but I do not wish to waste more of their time, and thus, while I fear they will not return, I find myself also hoping they do not. I am doomed to remain here, alone, for eternity._

* * *

As Frisk stepped outside the door, he spotted a familiar shape. A short skeleton, no taller than he was, wearing a simple white shirt underneath a blue hooded jacket, and black track shorts with a white stripe going down the front of each legging. Frisk smiled.

"Hey Sans! What's up? Didn't expect to run into you here," he jovially said to the skeleton. Sans shrugged.

"I dunno, just thought it was weird that you weren't showing up, considering I heard ya running away from Undyne earlier. Was afraid you'd gotten killed. Guess you could say I almost felt it in my bones," he said, his perpetual grin somehow getting larger. Frisk's face became acquainted with his palm.

"Oh my god Sans, that was horrible, even for you," he told the jokester. Sans shrugged once more.

"Can't win 'em all." Frisk rolled his eyes. "Where were you, anyway? Seemed like you were gone for some time," Sans questioned.

"Oh, I was in this..." Frisk began, turning around. He stared at where he'd come out from, very confused. He looked back at Sans, who only looked at him as if he were crazy.

"You were in the wall?" he asked. Frisk grimaced.

The door was gone.

"... Sans, I swear to the ever-loving gods that there was a door here. I was in a room, and there was a strange figure, and I was talking to it, and it told me who it was, and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell are you talking about, kiddo? A figure? A door? Kid, what's going on?" Sans pressed. Frisk suddenly looked panicked.

"No no no no no this wasn't supposed to happen I was supposed to be going back in there and talking to him some more and oh my god no no why please no-"

"Kid."

"Come on door come back I need to get back in there I can't leave him alone I-"

"Hey, kid-"

"No! You stupid door you were supposed to stay here and let me back in!" Frisk yelled, pounding the wall where the door should have been. Sans grabbed Frisk's shoulders and rather harshly spun the kid around to face him.

"Kid! Get ahold of yourself!" he said, and Frisk calmed momentarily, looking at the skeleton. "What the bloody hell are you talking about? Who can't you leave alone?" he then asked, staring the kid down, with a look of concern on his face.

"Sans, I swear to you there was a door here. I was in an empty room with a man named Gaster and he-" Frisk began. Sans stiffened, allowing his eyes to darken.

"...what did you say...?" Frisk began to sweat.

"Um... Gaster?" Frisk noticed Sans begin to shake lightly. The skeleton turned his head away, taking his hands off Frisk's shoulders. Frisk was unsure what to say or do. "... Sans? Are... you okay?" he dared to ask. He then watched as Sans disappeared right before his eyes. He'd never been so confused in his entire life. But he figured he'd know where to look for his friend.

* * *

It took him almost an hour, but Frisk finally managed to make his way back to the area before Waterfall. It was a cold climate, much colder than the chill he'd felt while in Waterfall, and snow covered the ground. However, his feet seemed to make no tracks.

"Didn't think I'd be coming back to Snowdin so soon. But I have to find Sans now!" Frisk said outloud to no one in particular, or so he thought.

"Human! You returned already! No doubt needing the help of the great Papyrus!" came a booming voice, startling the child. He whipped around to see a skeleton that was much taller than he, wearing a red scarf around his neck, a bizarre costume that Sans had said the joyous skeleton referred to as his "battle body" that was covering his rib cage, and matching red boots and mittens. Frisk couldn't help but grin widely at the sight.

"Hey Papyrus! Actually, no, I didn't come back here for help," he admitted. Papyrus almost looked disheartened, but immediately recovered. "I'm just trying to find Sans. He disappeared on me, and I needed to... um... well, I need to talk to him. Do you know where he is?" Papyrus placed a thoughtful hand on his chin.

"I haven't seen him, but I have a funny feeling he's probably at Grillby's," he told the child. Frisk nodded.

"That's where I figured he was. Hey, do you wanna help me look after all?" Frisk asked, to which Papyrus smiled, nodding his head.

"I will do anything to help my dear human friend! Nyeh heh heh!" he exclaimed, running off ahead of Frisk, who shook his head, chuckling.

"He's so goofy. Whelp, time to check Grillby's!"

Frisk headed toward the small village-size town of Snowdin, past the skeleton brothers' house, and the library with the misspelled sign. _How did they spell it "librarby", anyway? Who made that mistake?_ Shortly, he came to the building he was looking for, and opened the door. Stepping inside, he glanced around, noting the two booths on the right-hand side, the larger table to the left where the guard dogs were sitting, chatting, and playing poker. He then looked at the stools in front of the bar, and immediately frowned. They were empty, meaning Sans was, obviously, not here at the moment. He walked up to the bar itself, and was greeted by a tall fire elemental monster with glasses, wearing a rather nice suit. The fire elemental set the glass it had been cleaning down on the bar, and nodded to Frisk.

"Hey, Grillby! Did... did Sans come here recently? Like, within the last hour or so?" he asked. Grillby shook his head. "Oh, alright. Thank you," Frisk said to him, then walked back toward the door. Before he left, he glanced back once more at the fire elemental, nodding in thanks, and left.

Sighing, Frisk turned his head left, then right, then left once more, deciding to check the skeleton's house. _If he's not at Grillby's, maybe he's in his room? He seemed pretty upset about something. But he only got that way when I mentioned Gaster... Didn't Gaster say that no one remembered him?_ Lost in his thoughts, he ran into something, not paying attention to where he was going. He fell backwards.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and I-" he began looking up. His gaze was met with a fierce, piercing gaze that said "I don't like you much". He shivered. The creature he'd run into was a tall, blue, fish-like woman, though not as tall as Papyrus. She was in her armor, her helmet now removed. She had a ponytail of red hair on her head, which Frisk almost wondered how a fish had hair. He knew who she was. Papyrus spoke highly of her, and she was sort of a hero in the underground. She was terrifying, and terrifyingly strong. She was the figure that had been chasing him through Waterfall.

Undyne.

He managed to scramble to his feet before she could summon any spears to throw at him, and backed away a good ten feet. She stared at him some more, before finally breaking the figurative ice.

"YOU! What are you doing here!?" she demanded. Frisk winced back, her voice almost as loud as Papyrus', and far more frightening. She stepped closer, a spear now formed in her right hand. Frisk threw his hands in the air, in an attempt to show he meant no harm, or that he was basically surrendering.

"I was just looking for someone!" he exclaimed back, fear painfully evident in his voice. Undyne squinted her eyes, which somehow made her look even more threatening.

"Why? Didn't get enough of your kicks of toying with people's lives around here!? Papyrus tries to tell me you're good, but HAH! You're just a pathetic wimp!" she yelled. Frisk slightly lowered his hands. How was he ever going to get through to her? She definitely seemed rather set on hating him for seemingly no good reason. He had to try something, though.

"Why do you hate me?" he decided to ask, probably against his better judgment. She looked surprised for a second, then angry once more.

"Why? Because your kind trapped us down here! Because you're the difference between us getting out of this miserable hellhole! We need seven human souls to finally break free, and you're the last one!" she yelled, slowly inching closer. Frisk now had to decide between staying and fighting for his life, or turning tail and fleeing. Before he could make a decision, he saw Undyne take a large step forward, swinging her spear at him. Luckily, he was able to duck in time to not get swiped, and decided to bolt. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" he heard he scream as he ran back towards the woods of Snowdin.

As his legs moved as fast as they could, he tried to quickly think of where to hide from his pursuer. _Those trees look like a good place to hide!_ He immediately dove into a mass of trees that were on his right, and glanced back to see if she was still chasing him. He heard her still yelling, but watched in fearful silence as she ran passed him. He continued to watch her run farther into the woods, completely oblivious that she'd run right by where he was hiding. He sighed in relief, and when she was far enough out of sight, emerged from his hiding spot, and quickly made his way back to town. He still had to find Sans and make sure he was okay.

After almost another hour passed and he still had not located the short skeleton, he decided to locate Papyrus. Unfortunately, Undyne had decided to return to town as well, making his search that much harder. Eventually, he decided to just give up his search for either, and began to make his way back to Waterfall. _Maybe the door came back? I wonder why it vanished in the first place. I hope Gaster is okay..._

Making his way through to the far end of town, he was greeted with the familiar sight of the purple caverns of Waterfall. He was also greeted by a familiar looking figure, which he instantly recognized. He stopped as a spear appeared out of the ground right in front of him.

"Finally found you, brat! You won't get away from me now!" came Undyne's rather angry voice. She materialized a few spears in front of her, and launched them directly at Frisk, who had to dodge as fast as he could to not get maimed. He growled to himself.

"Undyne! I don't want to fight you! I just want to-" he began, interrupted by more spears being thrown his way. He just barely dodged, noting a small hole on his shirt's left arm.

"I don't wanna hear it, punk! You're stopping us from finally being happy and free! So just let me kill you quickly!" she yelled back, as even more spears were launched at Frisk, who was beginning to get incredibly exhausted from all the running he'd done earlier, and having a hard time dodging the barrage now aimed at him. However, he was still nimble enough to avoid them all.

Except one.

He felt his right leg give out, and fell to his left knee, grasping the spot that had been pierced. Luckily, the spear dissipated as soon as it hit its target, but the immense pain did not. He looked up when he heard her approach him, laughing. She was a mere five feet from him.

"Not so lucky now, are ya, punk!?" she yelled, materializing yet another spear. As soon as she lunged forward though, she forced herself to stop, as a new creature stood before her, left eye glowing with a brilliant blue. She then felt herself get pushed back a few feet, stumbling from the sudden force and falling backward. Frisk was very happy to see who it was.

"Sans! Thank you!" he called out, trying to stand, but the pain was too much. Sans turned to face him, eye still glowing. He looked down at Frisk, who went from smiling, to looking a little scared. Sans knelt before him, coming down to his level, eyes returning to their normal, white pinpricks. His perpetual smile told nothing to Frisk.

"Kid, sorry I ran off on ya. I just needed to clear my head. When you told me what you were doing back in Waterfall, I... almost didn't believe you. He's been gone for years, and I'd almost forgotten who he even was until you mentioned his name. I'm still not sure I remember much, or that I even believe you entirely. Hell, I'm surprised I even reacted like I did, since I don't entirely remember who he is, but something sparked in me at that moment. I don't know what, but something told me I had to react like that, so I guess... I did. Sorry..." he explained, sounding unsure of himself more and more as he spoke. Frisk smiled once more.

"It's okay, Sans. I was worried about you, so I came back to find you and talk to you. I didn't even mean to make that happen," he told the skeleton. Sans held out a bony hand to help Frisk up, which he gratefully accepted.

"What the hell are you doing, Sans!?" came Undyne's voice. They'd both almost completely forgotten she was even there. "That kid can't-"

"Undyne, shut up. The kid isn't doing any dying today. Or tomorrow. Or ever," he interrupted, turning his head toward her, looking annoyed. "I get it, it's your job, you wanna go free, but come on, the kid hasn't even hurt anyone. He's actually really damn nice, maybe you should get to know him, you might learn a thing or two about patience," he remarked. She scoffed.

"I don't need patience, I need the brat's soul!" she yelled back. "And yeah, it is my job! It's supposed to be yours, too! You haven't done anything about the human being here, apparently! I'm surprised you even still have a damn job!" Sans sighed.

"Yeah, I know it's my job. Problem is, I don't really care. Kid hasn't done anything wrong to anyone, he doesn't deserve to die," he argued, giving Undyne an almost dirty look. Before she could say anything, he continued. "And for your information, the kid wants to help free us, and I'm pretty sure there's gotta be a way to do that without anymore death."

 _Wow, that sounded almost prophetic. I wonder if there's something he knows that no one else does..._ Frisk thought. _Okay, maybe not prophetic, but it still sounds like he's got some knowledge he isn't letting anyone else in on..._

"So maybe we should just let the kid go. Let him go to the capital and meet the king himself. Maybe they can figure something out," Sans continued. Undyne growled.

"Yeah, right! The kid is our only hope right now, and he'd be of more use to us dead!" she argued back. Sans seemed to be getting annoyed now.

"Is it really fair to judge someone without knowing them? Is it fair to put our own suffering onto someone just because of some bad blood more than a century ago? Is it fair to end the life of an innocent just so we can MAYBE find happiness in freedom? We don't even know what the surface is truly like. What if it's worse than down here? What if the humans just find another way to trap us below the ground? What if they don't accept us into their culture? Worse, what if they try to just kill us all then and there? Is it going to be worth it, then?" he nearly yelled. Undyne simply stared at him in response. What could she say to that? The more she thought about it, he was right. They don't know what to expect once on the surface. For all they knew, humans still feared monster-kind, and wouldn't hesitate to just kill them all on sight. She couldn't truly argue with that fact. She lowered her head, staring at her feet.

"I... I don't know... It might not be better up there... but we won't know if we don't try, right?" was her response. She wasn't sure if she believed herself, but it was really all she could think of to say. Sans squinted at her.

"Is that really what you think?" Sans retorted. He then dragged his hand down his face. "Look, Undyne, we can't really keep doing this, killing humans left and right. If we have this attitude, living on the surface will be the least of our problems. I don't think humans will take too kindly to knowing how we got out of the underground," he told her. He gave her a moment to process that thought.

"... so we don't tell them," was her reply. Sans sighed.

"I don't know that it'll be that simple."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Hello, readers. First off, I know I didn't say anything in the first two chapters. I honestly wasn't sure this would do well, like at all. I'm glad there are some people that enjoy it so far. I want to say thank you to the few people that have reviewed so far, and another thank you to those who have favorited and all that. It really means a lot to me since, as I said, I didn't expect this to do as well as it has. This is the first fan fiction I've written in years, and the second to ever be posted on the internet anywhere. That was a very long time ago, and I don't remember much about it. Anyway, the second thing I'd like to say is that, after this, it's going to be a little over a week before the next update, since my family and I are leaving for vacation. After the next update, it'll probably go to once a week that I update this story. It doesn't help that I've hit a roadblock in the chapter I'm currently working on, and I really don't want that to affect my updates (luckily it's not the next chapter that's gotten my stopped, it's a later one). Well, anyway, here's chapter 3! I hope you all enjoy it! (Also, sorry for the really horrible, terrible, awful "jokes" in this chapter, I'm terrible with them for some reason...)

* * *

Sans ended up letting Frisk stay at his place for the night while his leg healed up. Unfortunately for Frisk, he had to sleep on their rather janky couch. Frisk almost opted to just sleep on the floor.

"It'd probably be about the same anyway," Sans ended up agreeing with him. They were sitting on that same couch, on opposite ends. They looked at each other, finally hoping to break the bizarre silence that had befallen the room mere moments ago. Sans looked at Frisk with an almost sorrowful expression in his sockets, though Frisk imagined it was more than just because of the sleeping arrangements.

"Sans, what's on your mind? You can't possibly be upset because of where I have to sleep, it wouldn't even affect you," he inquired. Sans shrugged.

"Nothin' you need to worry about, kiddo. I'm just dead tired," he replied with a wink. Frisk groaned.

"Come on, Sans! You can do better than that!" he cried, playfully punching the skeleton's shoulder.

"Kid, you're really rattling my bones," Sans replied.

"Oh my gosh, Sans!" Frisk replied, rolling his eyes. "But seriously, you've been fairly upset all day, is it related to Gaster?" he pressed. Sans sighed.

"I dunno, I mean, for some strange reason, I can't seem to recall why I know the name. I can't put a face to it. It's kinda bugging me now. When we were sitting down and eating dinner, I saw a flash, what I thought was a memory, of something behind Papyrus. It was a tall, black thing that had a head that looked kinda like us, like... a skeleton. But it was gone just as fast. I didn't get a very good look at it..." he trailed off, staring down at the child's leg. "How's that feelin', by the way?" he asked. Frisk glanced down at his own leg, where the spear from earlier had hit him.

"Fine, it doesn't hurt anymore. I think the food helped," he replied. He stopped for a moment, looking at the skeleton next to him, sympathy on his small face. "Sans... I feel like you don't wanna talk about it."

"There's nothing really to talk about, kid. I don't remember much of anything, like I told you," Sans said, sounding almost defeated. He slowly dropped his look to the ground, sockets partially closed to indicate he was still upset.

"Is it bothering you that you can't remember?" the child asked. Sans was still for a moment, before nodding his head.

"Yeah, it is, but I don't even know why... kid, can you tell me what he looked like?" he requested, still eyeing the ground. The boy thought for a moment.

"He was pretty tall, probably a bit taller than Papyrus. Um... let's see... he had a black... suit? I think? Oh, he had two rather large cracks on his skull, holes in his hands, above his wrists here," Frisk told him, drawing a circle on his own hand to indicate where the holes were. Sans looked at the location.

"His metacarpals? And his hands were still together? Fingers and all?" Frisk nodded. "Strange... anything else of note?" Frisk thought for a moment.

"Oh, his hands looked like they'd melted together in those spots by the holes, the... met...meta... uh..." Frisk struggled, and Sans lightly chuckled.

"Metacarpals."

"Yeah, those! ...what's a metacarpal?" Frisk asked sheepishly, lightly blushing from not knowing. Sans laughed a little harder.

"It's these bones, right here," he showed him, drawing a finger across Frisk's hand right below the phalanges. "That's what those are called. They're just bone, though, no muscle, which is why I'm confused as to how his hands still work if there's holes there." Frisk looked at his hand for a few seconds, then placed it down on his lap. "But, you said the bones looked like they were melted together?"

"Yeah, like it was all one giant bone or something."

"That's... odd. Could explain how his hands still worked, I s'pose," Sans replied, to which Frisk nodded. They then sat there in silence for a few minutes. It felt like forever to Frisk. Eventually, Sans looked at him. "Hey kid, I wanna show you something, follow me," he said, standing up and motioning for Frisk to follow, which the boy did. They walked out the front door of the house, took an immediate right, and walked to the back of the house. Sans pulled a small silver key out of his hoodie pocket, and unlocked the gray door before them, leading Frisk inside. As they entered, Frisk looked around with a confused expression on his face. It was a simple room, off-white tiled floors and bare white walls, with a single counter against the same wall as the door. In the very back of the room was a large purple curtain, which was very clearly housing something big. On the counter, Frisk spotted what appeared to be blue prints, but all the writing was in a strange script that Frisk could not possibly decode.

"Sans... what is this?" he asked, still very confused. Sans looked up from the drawer he'd walked to and opened.

"I guess you could call it a lab. I know, it's minuscule, but when you're pressed for space, you work with what you got," he said, then looked back down at the drawer he had opened, pulling a photograph and a piece of notebook paper out of it. He then walked back to Frisk, who was still by the door, and showed him what he had grabbed, starting with the piece of notebook paper. "I don't know where these came from, but I feel like they might be related to Gaster. This is a drawing I'd had in my room, it's me and my bro, I imagine I drew it cuz it's not really that great, but I can't recall for the life of me who the third person in it is... it kind of looks like the figure you described, only without the holes and cracks. What confuses me the most is what's written down in the corner," he explained. The drawing, which was in crayon, had a tall, stick figure-like Papyrus, complete with the red scarf, on the left. Sans was in a similar style on the opposite side, hoodie included, and a taller stick figure in the center. The three were holding hands. On the bottom right-hand corner of the paper, sure enough, were two simple words. _Don't forget._

"That's... really strange. What's the other thing?" he asked, and Sans placed the notebook paper on the counter, then held up the photograph. It was a picture of a rather young Sans standing next to a tall, black-suited figure, holding what appeared to be a baby Papyrus. Frisk recognized the tall figure instantly, and gasped.

"We found this photo on our living room wall by the stairs, and neither of us remembers getting it taken. Not that Papyrus even would if he was that young. We can't remember who that other person in the picture is, and since we both were bothered and kind of creeped out by it, I took it down and hid it back here," Sans told the child. Frisk looked up at him, eyes as wide as they could go.

"Oh my god... Sans... that's him. That's Gaster! That's what he looked like!" he exclaimed. Sans almost dropped the photograph, but regained his composure and flipped it around to look at it himself once more. He stared at it for some time. Slowly, his hands began to tremble, and he slowly looked at Frisk.

"...kid... are you sure? You aren't pullin' my leg?"he had to ask, making no room for error. Frisk nodded his head rather eagerly. Sans looked back down at the picture. "This is... but why is it here? Why do I-" he began, then the spots in his eyes vanished. Frisk stood there, unsure of what was going on in Sans' head. After a short bit, a single, light blue tear streaked down Sans' face. Frisk debated stepping up to Sans to hug him, but decided against it. He looked down and closed his eyes lightly, thinking.

 _Just give him some space, he might be remembering something... I am wondering the same thing, though. Why DOES he have that photograph? ...wait a minute... Gaster mentioned having two kids! Sans and Papyrus! They have to be! It's so obvious now! Why did I..._

Before he could finish that thought, Frisk heard sobbing. He shook his head to clear his mind, and looked back up, only to see that Sans had started crying more, now sitting down and holding his knees to his chest. Frisk sat down next to him, saying nothing and opting to place an arm around the back of his friend's neck gently. Sans leaned into him. They sat there like that, for probably close to thirty minutes, Frisk giving Sans time to calm down.

"I... I remembered... a little... I d-don't know how... I don't... know w-why... I had f-forgotten..." Sans finally stuttered out. Frisk said nothing, and instead turned to face Sans completely, and wrapped his arms around the skeleton who returned the favor, still fighting back tears. Frisk gently rubbed Sans' back reassuringly. Sans placed his head in the crook of Frisk's neck. They sat like that for a few minutes longer, before Sans slowly started to pull away, eyes at the floor. Frisk kept a hand on Sans' shoulder, maintaining eye contact despite where Sans was looking.

"Sans, I'm here for you to talk to, if you want. I can't possibly imagine what's going through your mind right now, if the memories are what I think they are, but I'm here for you, I want you to know that," Frisk told him. Sans looked back up at him, some tears still falling down his face. Even with his perpetual grin, Frisk felt sorry for the skeleton.

"Thank you, kid... I... I re-really mean it..." he said rather quietly. He re-situated himself so that he was once more hugging his knees, and Frisk simply sat there, next to him. "Kid... sorry..." Frisk looked at him, confused.

"For?"

"Breaking down... like that... that's... never happened... before..." He was very clearly figuring out his emotions right now, and Frisk could only guess why. The child was unsure if he should bother asking Sans what he remembered, then completely decided against it. He simply sat there, next to his friend, allowing the skeleton time to recover from whatever revelation he'd had. Sans spoke again, after a while. "Gaster... he's... he was my and Papyrus'... father... but something tells me... you already figured that out..."

"Yeah, but only cuz of the photo, and that he'd said he had two kids." Sans looked at Frisk.

"...I'm sorry I said I didn't entirely believe you..." he said, almost dejectedly. Frisk smiled at him.

"It's okay, it's entirely understandable. Honestly, I wasn't sure I believed what I was seeing at first. It felt unreal," he admitted. "Hey Sans, do you... do you mind if I ask about some of your memories? I'm kinda curious what Gaster was like." Sans, finally smiling happily, nodded.

* * *

 _Sans looked up from the papers he'd been staring at for the last while, unable to find a proper solution. He'd been tasked with researching the ancient magic of the barrier, possibly finding a way to break it down so the monsters could all finally go free, without having to wait for more human souls. They'd been at it for months now, finding nothing they could use to their advantage. He was studying papers that had been from an experiment the head scientist had conducted on said barrier. He knew how important this task was to everyone, but had been feeling discouraged lately, due to the lack of new developments being made. They'd tried blasting it open with their own magic, they'd tried using a mixture that was meant to burn through defensive monster magic, hell, the king had even tried slamming into it with a magical battering ram. About the only thing they didn't try was simply walking through it, but that was only because they already knew that wouldn't do any good. He rubbed his eye lids, and looked at the clock hanging on the wall._

" _Jeez, that late already? No wonder my eyes can't focus, been staring at the same damn papers for close to twelve hours," he muttered, and stood up. He walked up to the door of the small office he'd been using, his father's specifically, and wandered down the hallway trying to locate any other living being in the lab. After taking a few turns and seeing no one, he finally saw a light shining through a window. He walked up to the door, placed his badge over the reader, hearing a beep signifying it'd been accepted, and stepped inside. He saw Gaster, head down on a desk, likely asleep, with a cup of cold coffee next to him. He knew the skeleton worked harder than anyone else in the lab, and was well on his way to becoming the royal scientist, a dream he'd had since he was a child. Sans knew he'd have the position within the year, especially with the other project he'd be working on. And with the current royal scientist about to retire, his father was already all but hired. Smiling at the thought, Sans quietly approached the sleeping form, glancing over his father's shoulder at the papers that were under his arms._

 _ **Project CORE**_

 _Sans looked at the blueprint, noticing the handwriting. Wingdings, he noted, the language his father was most comfortable with, even when talking. Deciding to ignore it for now, he gently shook the sleeping skeleton, attempting to wake him from his slumber. When that did nothing, he shook a bit harder, harshly whispering "dad!" while doing so. The skeleton lifted his head slightly, glancing left and right, his eyes still half-closed._

" _What? What on earth...? I must have dozed off," he said sleepily, looking at his watch. He gasped. "Oh my goodness, is it already that late?" he asked, still not realizing Sans was in the room._

" _Yep." Gaster jumped slightly at hearing his son's voice unexpectedly, and turned to face him._

" _Sans, you are still here? I figured you would have headed home by now," he said, smiling at his son and placing a hand on his shoulder. Sans shrugged._

" _Without my old man? I'm not that dead inside," he retorted. His father shook his head._

" _You definitely could learn a femur." Sans chuckled._

" _And you say I'm terrible at it," he said. "Good one, though."_

 _Gaster stood up from his chair, placing a hand on his son's back, as they left the research room he'd fallen asleep in. As they arrived on the main floor of the lab, they noticed a large, white-furred monster adorned in a golden crown and yellow beard, sporting two large horns on his head, and wearing a purple cape was standing at one of the doors. It was the king, Asgore Dreemurr. When he spotted the two skeletons, he smiled, and waltzed up to them._

" _Good evening, your majesty. What brings you here so late?" the taller skeleton asked, reaching out a hand to shake the king's. As soon as their hands met, a rather loud, odd noise was heard. Sans stifled a laugh. The king stared for a moment, then guffawed at the noise, which then caused all three to break into laughter. After calming down, the two shook hands for real._

" _Oh, Dr. Gaster, you and your whoopee cushions! They get me every time!" bellowed the king as he placed a large fuzzy paw on Gaster's shoulder. "As for why I'm here, I have some news for you. Dr. Drezin has put in his retirement request. He's stated that he feels the lab would benefit from his early departure, as he can no longer work safely, due to his fading eye sight. He has requested that I appoint the new royal scientist early, and so first thing tomorrow morning, I wanted to announce that!" he exclaimed. Gaster looked like he was going to faint. "And I am here to inform you that you did indeed have the most recommendations, even by Drezin himself!"_

 _Gaster then looked like he would explode. This was it. This was what he'd been working for most of his life towards. He felt elated, as if he could float off into the ceiling at any moment. His dream was finally becoming a reality, and far sooner than he'd expected._

 _After spending a few more minutes chatting with the king to make arrangements for tomorrow's announcement, then saying good-byes, Gaster waited until the king left the building, then turned to his son, the largest grin on his face Sans had ever seen. Laughing with joy, he brought his son into a tight hug, spinning him around a few times, before placing him back firmly on the ground. Sans couldn't help but feel happy for his father, not that he'd have any reason to feel anything else._

" _Sans! Tomorrow! Everything I have been working towards! My lifelong dream, recognized! The core will finally be green-lit, and I can begin making all our lives much more comfortable!" he basically yelled, nothing but joy in his voice. Sans closed his eyes, grinning as wide as he could._

* * *

"That was the third happiest he'd ever been," Sans almost whispered. Frisk kept his look forward, at the wall.

"Were the first two when you and Papyrus were born?" he asked. Sans nodded.

"Yeah... he told me, when I was old enough, that my being born was nothing short of a miracle. I didn't know what he meant by that, and he never got a chance to tell me, so I still don't know," he told the human. "I was probably ten or so when he got that position, and from then on he was usually really busy with something. He was always happy, though. And I was always happy for him. And he still always found time for me and Papyrus."

"Wait, you were only ten when you worked in the lab with him? How did you pull that one off?" Frisk asked, now very confused and curious. Clearly, Sans was smarter than he ever let on. Frisk always felt it and this basically confirmed that suspicion.

"Well, when your dad is one of the smartest people in the underground, and raises you around science books and stuff like that, it just... kinda happens, I guess," Sans told him. "I dunno, I always thought it was normal. Is it different on the surface?" Frisk nodded.

"Yeah, normally humans gotta go to school for years and years to get into their chosen field."

"Oh." Sans looked at the clock on the wall. "It's getting kinda late, kid, maybe we should head to bed," he suggested. Frisk nodded.

"Good idea, I'm sleepy," he replied, yawning. They got up and headed back to the main part of the house. As Frisk got as comfy as he could on the couch, Sans looked at him.

"Thought you were gonna sleep on the floor?" Frisk shrugged.

"Too sleepy to care right now," he replied, shutting his eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes back up to see Sans standing before him, a genuine smile on his face. He smiled back.

"Thanks, kid, for letting me do that." He hugged Frisk once more, who returned the gesture.

"You're welcome, Sans."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** I'm sorry for the delayed update, we just got back a few days ago, and we've been trying to get back into our daily routine. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm a little unsure if I really like the way this chapter turned out, especially because of a certain part near the end. I'm sure you guys will know what I'm talking about when you read it. I don't really know if I like it that much. But I'm about to upload it, so it's probably too late to bother changing it. It's canon to my story now, and I'll work with it. I really can't think of any better way to write it, anyway. Also, because this chapter was uploaded so much later than I wanted, the next chapter will probably seem like it's coming early, but I assure you that it will become the (hopefully) normal upload schedule! I hope you guys enjoy the really dumb headcanon near the end of the chapter! (It's not really headcanon, I just wanted to try to add some drama, which I probably failed at doing... oh well!)

* * *

Sans told his brother about Gaster the next evening at dinner time, and though he figured Papyrus was too young to actually remember, he'd spotted the normally jovial skeleton in his room in tears that night. When Sans informed Frisk of this, they started to talk about the best ways to maybe bring Gaster back, but all ideas seemed to lead to dead ends. After a while, Sans was starting to believe, and sadly accept, that they'd truly never see their father again.

So Frisk got an idea. After the child had done what he'd set out to do first and freed the monsters by shattering the barrier, he made his way back to where he'd fallen, the beginning of his adventure. The ruins of Home, the first city built by the monsters in the underground. There, he spotted what he was looking for; a small, white-furred monster, similar in appearance to the king without the horns and hair, wearing a green and yellow striped shirt and black pants. The king's son, Asriel.

"Frisk? What are you doing here? You should be going with your friends to the surface," said the monster child. Frisk smiled and approached the other boy.

"I know, I know, but I came back to talk to you about a few things. I wanted to ask you, when you absorbed Chara's soul all those years ago, what happened to you?" Frisk asked. The goat monster looked down, a sad smile on his face.

"Frisk, I don't know why you want to know that, but I can tell you it's not going to work. I don't have a soul anymore, remember?" Frisk almost made friends with the floor. He felt bad for saying this to the child, but he had to know.

"Asriel, I... I know you don't. I don't wanna make you feel left out, but... I'm not asking to help you..." _Good god, that sounded even worse outloud than it did in my head..._ "Wait, no no no I-I mean-" he stuttered. Asriel giggled.

"It's fine, Frisk, I know I can't come back." _Right through the heart, thanks Asriel..._ "I also know my time in this form is very limited, so I'll do what I can to help you with whatever it is you have in mind," the child replied, smiling despite the situation. Frisk felt his stomach drop like a brick.

"Asriel, I want you to know that I do want to find a way to help you, there has to be a way..."

"Frisk, please, it's okay. If you want to find a way to help me sometime down the road, I won't stop you, but you don't need to act guilty. It wasn't, and isn't, your fault I'm in this situation. Now, what did you want to know?"

Frisk spent the next little while asking Asriel what he knew about souls, and how human and monster souls worked in tandem. He learned that, with a human soul's determination, its will to live, it could possibly bring back just about any creature that still had their own soul, as long as it wasn't another human. He remembered that part from those plaques in Waterfall. He learned that monsters with human souls were considered terrible creatures. He also learned, after some prying, that it wasn't guaranteed to work, and that not all monster souls would react the same way his had when he absorbed Chara's soul. Frisk mused that it may have been due to the child's feelings of animosity towards both species that caused Asriel to become what he deemed "a horrible monstrosity of unimaginable power".

After only about twenty minutes of conversation, Frisk felt he had the information he needed, and thanked Asriel for his time and knowledge. They said their goodbyes, Frisk made another verbal promise to him to find a way to bring him back as well, and returned to Waterfall where he'd first found the door that led to Gaster. However, the door still had not shown back up, and he sighed in frustration. He decided to come back tomorrow. That night, he told Sans his plan.

The conversation immediately backfired.

"Are you serious!? Why would you do that to yourself!? After all the work you've done for us, after all the friends you've made, the people that care about you, you're going to just... give it up!? No! We can find another way!" he yelled. Frisk held back his own yelling. Papyrus stood nearby, quivering slightly due to the sudden conflict and hearing his brother nearly scream. Neither of them had ever seen the short skeleton so furious and confused. Neither of them knew how to calm him down. They didn't think they could.

Their argument lasted for a couple hours after it finally erupted in Frisk's face. Sans really did not want to lose another person he cared for, and spent the entire time trying to talk Frisk down from his "ludicrous" idea. He tried to convince the child it likely wouldn't work anyway. Frisk didn't want to believe him, saying that the most sensible reason Gaster was even able to connect back to the real world in the first place was because of the skeleton's own soul, otherwise he likely wouldn't have any memories. Frisk had left their place that night, not angry despite what happened between the two. He was still determined to do this.

So now, he stood outside the entrance to the underground. The area where the barrier used to be located. He would find a way back into that room, and do what he intended to. As he made his way back to Waterfall for the third time, he noticed some of the monsters had yet to leave the underground. He figured it was likely due to most of them being smaller and afraid. When he arrived in the hallway, he saw that, much to his chagrin, the door was still not present. He walked to where he remembered it being, and placed his hands on the wall.

"Come on, door! Show back up!" he yelled, slamming his hands on the wall, possibly startling every small monster within range. He growled when nothing happened, and placed his head in between where his hands were, letting out an irritated growl. He then pulled his head back up, staring at the spot it had been. He simply stared, concentrating on that spot. After almost a minute of that his head started to hurt, so he stopped. He turned around and leaned back against the wall, sliding down to a sitting position.

"Why are you being so difficult, you dumb door?" he asked no one in particular. He set his elbow upon his knee and placed his head on his hand. "Now what? I came all this way, I can't just give up..." Then an idea struck him. He stood back up, stepped back from the wall a few feet, and concentrated once more, this time on his own soul.

He called on his soul, his entire being, and summoned it from its hiding place inside his chest. Even now he was fascinated by its mere existence, and the fact that it could seemingly disappear into his body like it wasn't even there. Having summoned his soul, the tiny red heart that represented it was now just floating in front of him, almost like it was awaiting orders. He sent it forward to the wall, stopping when it made contact. _If I remember correctly, the soul is a human's source of determination. I wonder if I can force that door to appear through determination alone._ He concentrated hard on the spot his soul was resting against.

After standing like that for a couple minutes, he finally noticed a reaction; his soul glowed a dark red color, then slowly brightened back up until it was almost pink, then it became almost purely white. He made a sort of wish to his soul to bring the door back into existence, and allow him entry. Almost as soon as he finished that thought, his soul released a bright light, blinding him and anything else that could see it. After a few seconds the light dissipated, and when he was able to reopen his eyes and could once again see, he noticed that his seemingly asinine idea had worked. The door had finally reappeared. He gasped.

"Yes! I did it! I didn't expect that to actually work, but it did!" he shouted, calling his soul back to him for now, its task complete. Excitedly, he approached the door and placed his hand on the knob, and was welcomed with that chilling sensation once more. It took everything he had to not rip the door from its hinges, and he practically ran inside. He stopped immediately after he got a good look around the room. The same blackness for walls and white floor. There was one difference.

Gaster wasn't there.

"Gaster? Can you hear me?" he called out. He knew he couldn't understand the strange language the skeleton spoke, but he knew Gaster could understand him. He called out to Gaster several more times, but got no response. He scowled.

"Kid, I told you it wouldn't work," came an all too familiar voice, startling Frisk. He swiftly turned to see Sans standing at the entrance by the door. "He's probably gone for good by now."

"That can't be true, Sans! He has to still be here somewhere! He told me he was stuck here!"

"Yeah, he probably meant in the void. Not just this room." Frisk's eyes gradually traveled toward the ground at that statement. He refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to see Gaster again. There had to be a way. His hands curled into fists, and he turned and punched the wall to his left, though not hard. His hand did not connect with solidity like he was clearly expecting. He slowly withdrew his fist.

"What...? This wall isn't actually solid... why do I feel like I should have known that?" Frisk commented outloud, staring at his hand. Sans walked up behind him.

"Probably cuz you did, you just didn't realize until you touched it. Frisk..." he sighed. He didn't want the kid, his friend, to do this, but he realized he couldn't stop the kid either. Frisk was dead set on doing this. He suddenly didn't know what to say. He just watched as Frisk placed a hand gently into the darkness, not allowing it full entry likely for fear that he'd get sucked in. He watched as Frisk moved his hand around. "What's it feel like?" he had to ask.

"Chilling emptiness..." Frisk replied, sounding almost entranced. Then, his hand stopped. He gasped, and Sans placed his own bony hand on Frisk's arm.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice. Frisk kept staring at the wall.

"...I can't move my hand..." At that, Sans pulled on Frisk's arm as hard as he could, but it did not budge. Frisk looked at Sans, fear and curiosity in his eyes, but said nothing. Sans tried again, and again nothing happened. Sans tried to use his magic to pull the child's hand out, but once again, nothing. He decided to keep his magic aura around the child though, so he could do whatever was necessary to protect his friend.

"Sans... I can hear a voice... it's... clear as day... yet I can't make out what it's saying..." Frisk suddenly said.

"Do you recognize the voice?" Frisk shook his head. "Is it speaking a language you can understand?" Again, Frisk gestured no. "What does it sound like?"

Sans got no response. Against all common sense, he decided he would place his own hand in the blackness that acted as walls. He felt his hand become gently sucked in, close to Frisk's, and found he, too, could not move his hand. After a few seconds, he heard a voice speaking in a language he did not recognize. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the words it spoke, and the voice itself. When he did, he saw strange symbols appear as the voice spoke.

Symbols he _did_ recognize.

"Wingdings!" he whispered in surprise. Frisk looked at him.

"What?"

"That weird sound you're hearing is spoken Wingdings. It's Gaster's... dad's language," Sans informed him. Frisk stared at the wall where his hand was, confused.

"Why am I hearing it? And if that's Gaster talking, why do I not recognize the voice?" Sans shrugged.

"Did he talk verbally to you when you were here last?"

"Yeah, but his voice sounded... well, not like this. It was... gurgly, and sounded far away," Frisk told him. "And he only talked like two times before we both decided it wasn't gonna work, so we just signed back and forth. I was actually surprised he knew sign language, cuz I thought it was a human language," he admitted.

"Wait, he didn't talk to you in standard?" Sans asked. Frisk looked up at him.

"No? What's standard?"

"We're speaking it now."

"Oh, English." Sans shrugged.

"Uh, sure." He went back to trying to concentrate on the symbols for a few moments.

"How come you can't understand what the voice is saying?" Frisk suddenly asked, breaking Sans' concentration. He noticed the skeleton barely jump from his sudden voice. "Oh, sorry..."

"S'okay. I dunno, I just... can't. Maybe the memory loss has something to do with it. I don't exactly have all my memories of dad back yet," Sans said thoughtfully. Frisk went silent, allowing Sans to return to his previous task. The skeleton closed his eyes, and concentrated once more on the voice and symbols.

"H... e... l... p... ? Help? Help what?" Sans then saw a flash of something, and it disappeared as fast as it came. Then more symbols. "D... o... n... o... t... l... e... a... v... e... m...e..." Another quick flash. It stayed just barely longer, yet Sans still could not see what it was exactly. More symbols. As Sans read these ones in his mind, he felt a warming sensation engulf his body. Right then, Sans felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest, and slowly began to lose conscience. All the while, he kept his concentration on those symbols, gripping them like a life line. He refused to let them go until he lost all consciousness.

 **M... y... s... o... n...**

* * *

 _Sans was suddenly cold. He quickly looked all around him, not seeing any other living being. He noted that he appeared to be back in Snowdin, outside of his and Papyrus' house, and that the lights were on in the living room. He decided to peek inside the window, and saw two figures on the couch. He thought at first that it was he and his brother, but when he got a closer look, he realized it was the man from his photograph, and a different skeleton sitting next to him._

Dad _, he thought. He tried to stand on the tips of his toes to get a better look and leaned forward, then found himself fall through the wall and window, but did not break anything or even alarm the two skeletons on the couch._ I must be viewing a memory... but it's certainly not mine _. He stood back up and turned around to look at who occupied the couch, and chuckled slightly when he noticed it was the very same couch that he and Papyrus had in their living room. He then drew his attention to the two, and noticed the skeleton that was not his father was holding a small, bundled blanket in its arms. He quickly gave that one a one-over, and noticed it was a female skeleton. She was wearing a light blue gown, and looked like a feminine version of his brother._ Is that... our mom? I didn't even know we had a mom. But then, we'd have to if we were born of dad's magic. Dad obviously had a partner... _The two skeletons sat there in silence, seemingly watching the small bundle she held. It was Gaster who finally spoke, surprisingly in Standard._

" _He looks a lot like you," he said. His wife nodded lightly as Gaster ran a gentle hand over the little one's head. Both of them had smiles on their faces, though hers looked more tired. Sans decided to lean forward to see who they were holding, and noted that it was Papyrus._ Little bastard is adorable as a baby... _he thought, chuckling. He noticed the wife had said nothing, almost not even acknowledging Gaster had even said anything outside of that light nod. "Arial, is there something wrong? You have been silent the entire night. You barely greeted me when I got home," Gaster continued. Sans thought he saw his mom's face drop for just a second, and clearly Gaster didn't notice as he said nothing about it._

" _No, dear, I'm just a little tired. Having to take care of a toddler and an infant is a lot of work," she said, and Sans swore he'd heard a hint of frustration in her voice, though it was barely noticeable. Gaster looked at the ground for a moment, then back at her._

" _I am sorry, Arial, but you know how important my work is. If, however, you would like, I may be able to talk Dr. Drezin into allowing me a few days off to give you a break," he suggested. Arial closed her eyes, sighing._

" _It's fine, dear, I can take care of them. Just, Sans is a bit of rambunctious little tyke." Sans smiled at that, trying not to laugh. "He almost broke the lamp today playing with his new toy car," she said. Gaster looked up at her, mild amusement on his face._

" _This old thing? It is just a lamp, we can find many more in the garbage dump, they are all over," he chuckled, earning a look of disappointment from his wife. "I cannot imagine it has any sentimental value to-"_

" _My mother gave me that lamp before she fell down, Wing," she said, clearly irritated. Gaster stopped chuckling, looking highly confused. "It was an anniversary gift for when we did finally get a house. It was her grandmother's, hand-made."_

" _I am sorry, Arial, I had no idea that was where it came from. You never told me." Arial looked at him, some anger in her eyes._

" _Yes I did, I told you the day we moved in, because you asked where it came from," she almost yelled. Gaster cocked his head to the side, not seeming to recall that at all. Sans suddenly felt a change in the air about the room, and felt like he shouldn't be here. He took a few steps back from them._

" _I do not remember ever asking that, I was called into work for an emergency that day. I even asked you not to do all that work without me, but you did," Gaster retorted, voice filled with confusion. "I went to the apartment in New Home after work, and saw nothing was there, not even you."_ _Arial then looked up at Gaster, suddenly shocked that he said that. Her eyes suddenly went wide, and she looked like she was wanted to run out of the room._ " _Who helped you move?" Gaster then pressed, squinting at her. Sans felt a small pit where his stomach would be. Even in a memory, his magic was still reacting to the feeling in the room. Arial suddenly stood up from the couch and began to walk away before Gaster rose and grabbed her arm. "Arial, did something happen that day?"_

" _No! Nothing happened! I don't want to talk about this anymore," she cried, looking flustered and annoyed. Papyrus started whimpering, awoken from his sleep by the sudden loud noises. Gaster motioned for her to give the child to him, but she drew him away. "No, I am going to put him to bed." She shrugged Gaster's hand off her, and he watched as she ran up the stairs, into the far right room. Gaster stood there, staring at the door, a look of confusion and irritation on his face. Then, everything slowly faded from Sans' vision, before finally becoming pure blackness._

* * *

Sans awoke suddenly, sweating and panting. He forced himself to sit up after realizing he was laying on the ground, and brought his knees to his chest. He placed his head down, trying to calm himself. "What the hell was that?" he said. He then felt a small hand on his shoulder, and quickly snapped his head around to see Frisk standing next him, leaning down. Frisk was looking at him with concern. "Kid, how long was I out?" he asked.

"About an hour, and you were tossing and turning a lot. I tried to wake you up, but you didn't respond. So I sat here the whole time, keeping an eye on you," Frisk told him. Sans looked forward, then down at the ground in front of his slippered feet. "Sans, what happened to you?"

"... I... I'm not... entirely sure... I think I was viewing a memory, but it wasn't mine. I think... it was dad's..." he whispered. Frisk could tell he was bothered by what he saw, so decided not to press the issue unless Sans specifically talked about it. Instead, he decided to tell Sans the good news.

"Gaster came back!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sans immediately stood up, and looked behind him where Frisk was pointing. He saw that Gaster was indeed standing there. He gasped, staring at his father who was seemingly smiling at him. They stared at each other for a few brief minutes before Sans stepped forward in an attempt to hug Gaster. He phased right through. He pulled himself back and looked at Gaster, obviously confused and now slightly embarrassed. Gaster chuckled, making Sans feel slightly more embarrassed.

[I apologize, Sans, but you cannot touch a ghost,] he told his son. Sans looked down at the ground for a couple seconds, then brought his eyes back up to his father. He looked visibly upset at that knowledge. Gaster sighed. [Trust me, son, I wish I could hold you.] He held his hands close to his sternum, one hand cupped in the other, disappointment obvious on his face. A smile then crossed his mouth. [You have grown into an amazing skeleton, Sans. Frisk has told me that you single-handedly raised your brother after the accident,] he said, sounding proud and happy. Sans rubbed the back of his skull.

"Heh, thanks. It was tough going at first, but I kept a "hand"le on the situation," he replied, holding up his other hand for emphasis. Gaster chuckled at that.

[I see you have not changed that much!] he exclaimed. Sans couldn't help but laugh lightly at his terrible pun himself. Frisk then looked at Sans, confused.

"Wait, Sans, I thought you weren't able to understand him anymore?" he asked. Sans shrugged.

"I can now, for some reason," he replied, also sounding confused after realizing this. Then he got a somewhat serious look on his face. He had to know. "Dad... what... did I see?" Gaster's features dropped.

[You saw that? I am sorry, I did not intend for that to happen. It was a memory of one of the first arguments your mother and I almost got into. It was not a happy memory, and I wanted to forget it as soon as I remembered it. It led into... more memories,] he explained. Sans said nothing, but did look sad. [Sans, please try to not think about it, that was in the past. I do not want such things to trouble you.]

"... I... okay..." Sans muttered. He really didn't know that he wanted to think about it anymore anyway. He still remembered what he felt, and shuddered. He wasn't too keen on keeping that feeling in his memories for much longer. Besides, he figured if Gaster wanted to talk about it, he would. "How did you get back here, anyway?" he decided to ask. "When Frisk first walked in, the room was empty."

[Admittedly, I had to borrow some of your energy to return, which is what made you fall unconscious. I would have borrowed some of Frisk's as well, but he has very little magic so it would have accomplished nothing. When I felt Frisk's presence within the void, I connected with it and made an attempt to communicate, but because he does not understand my words, it was futile. Then I sensed a second presence, and upon connecting with it, I saw you. Hoping against all hope, I communicated with you, and was shocked to find that you still were able to read Wingdings.] Gaster explained.

"Oh. Sounds like you did a skele-ton of work to come back then," Sans replied nonchalantly. Gaster chuckled lightly. "Why are you talking in Wingdings?" he then asked. Gaster looked at the ground.

[Over the many years I have spent in this hellish nightmare, I have... forgotten how to actually speak Standard. Even the memories that have been flooding back have done nothing to help me remember. I can still understand it just fine, somehow,] he said, looking ashamed. Sans went to place his hand on Gaster's shoulder before immediately remembering he couldn't actually touch his father and returned it to his side. He gave Gaster a sad look.

"Not being able to touch you is... kinda irritating."

[Believe me, I know how you are feeling.] Frisk looked at Gaster.

"I think I can help with that," he said simply. Gaster looked at him as Sans' white pupils disappeared, having completely forgotten what the child was planning.

"Kid-"

 **What do you mean?** Sans saw Gaster sign.

"Kid, no, come on, please don't do this," Sans tried to argue. Frisk just smiled at Gaster, seemingly ignoring Sans for the time being.

"Gaster, do you still have a soul?" Frisk asked. Gaster looked at Frisk quizzically. He nodded.

 **Yes, but it was shattered in the accident,** he informed the child.

"That's fine, I think this'll fix it right up!" Frisk said, almost too happily for Sans' liking.

"Kid, please-" he began, but Frisk brought a hand up to silence him.

"Sans, I told you already, I want to do this. I... I almost have to," he replied. Sans cocked his head slightly, sockets still black.

"What the hell do you mean you have to?"

[What on earth are you two talking about?] Gaster butted in, highly confused. Sans shook his head slowly.

"The kid wants to..." Sans trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. He couldn't admit it outloud, he didn't even want to admit it in his head. One of his best friends, the first human friend he'd ever made, someone he truly loved and cared for besides Papyrus, was about to do something irreversible.

"Sans, I feel like I have to do this because... if I can do something to help others be happy, and I don't, I will never be able to forgive myself. I want to give you and Papyrus the happiness I never had. It's not fair that you two grew up without a father, and because I know how that feels, I... want to do something about it. You three deserve to be together, and I can help with that," Frisk explained to Sans, who'd began to feel teary-eyed yet again. He found himself cursing his emotions and ability to cry. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from Frisk, hands balled into fists that were shaking.

"Dammit kid... I... no, I don't want to lose you! I can't! Don't do this!" he yelled, but there was no anger in his words. His voice was drenched in fear. There was nothing more he could truly say, though.

 **Frisk, what... are you talking about? What is it you plan on doing?** Gaster asked the child. Instead of telling him, Frisk closed his eyes and concentrated. [Sans, what is he doing?] Before Sans could answer, a small red heart appeared before Frisk. Gaster was confused at first, and almost asked once more what was going on before it clicked. His eyes widened.

 _The child wants to..._ Gaster was now very surprised. _I cannot do that to a child..._

Before anyone else could say anything more, Frisk cupped his hands around his soul. He stood before Gaster, hands extended.

"Gaster, please take my soul." Gaster simply stared at the child. When he made no attempt, Frisk sighed. "I know you probably think I'm crazy for wanting to do this, but like I told Sans, I can't simply not do anything. This is the only way to bring you back, that we know of, and I know how badly you want to see your children, to hold them yourself. If I don't do this, I won't be able to live with myself," Frisk explained. Again, Gaster made no attempt to take Frisk's soul.

 **Child, no, I cannot take your future from you. I am not worth your life. As much as I wish it to happen, I am not capable of taking that from you. You have far too much to live for.**

"You aren't taking anything from me, I'm offering it to you out of the kindness in my heart. Besides, it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll still live on inside you, Gaster" Frisk said, aiming that at both skeletons, confusion on both of their faces.

"How can you be sure? How do you know you'll still be alive?" Sans asked. Frisk smiled at him.

"It's easy to find out when you know someone else who'd already lived through such an event." Gaster immediately went wide-eyed.

 **Asriel... even through death, that child is making a difference in everyone's lives.**

"Who's Asriel?" Sans asked after seeing his father sign the name.

"Sans, do you remember that little yellow flower that you told me your brother talked to sometimes?" Frisk asked. Sans nodded. "That was Asgore and Toriel's son, Asriel. When he died and turned to dust on Asgore's flower bed, his essence combined with the flowers. Then, when Dr. Alphys injected one of those flowers with determination, she... kinda accidentally created Flowey. Anyway, after I helped Alphys and we all met up in the throne room, Flowey absorbed all the human and monster souls and was able to return to his old self, Asriel. After I fought to get you all back, and he broke the barrier, I went to find him and asked him about some stuff while I could before he ended up becoming a soulless, unfeeling flower again. I made absolutely sure this would work before I even told you about it, Sans," the child explained, all the while watching Sans' expression change into one of shock.

"Oh my god... kid... I didn't know you had all of this planned out so well... so you won't be truly gone, then," the skeleton confirmed. Frisk nodded. "Dammit, kid, you really enjoy making things difficult, don't you?" Frisk giggled, then turned his attention back to Gaster.

"Please, Gaster," Frisk pleaded once more. After thinking for a brief moment, Gaster sighed.

 **You really are set on this.** Frisk nodded. **Very well, I shall accept your offer,** he then signed, reaching his hand out to touch the soul. Closing his eyes, he placed a hand above the little red heart, surrounding it with a blue and yellow aura. As he did this, a bright light blinded Sans, and he covered his face almost immediately. Shortly, the light vanished and Sans was able to open his eyes again. When he did, he noticed the room was empty. He began to panic.

 _Did it not work!? Oh my god no, now they're both gone! Dammit, I knew this was a bad ide-_ His thoughts were interrupted by a small, white, glowing object suddenly appearing before him. He gasped and stepped closer to get a better look. _Whoa. Whatever that is, it's small._ When he was almost touching it with his face, he noticed it was a small, white fragment. He knew almost instantly what it was.

"Dad's soul..." he whispered. His eyes widened in amazement as it gradually grew bigger and more complete, and it now looked like a white, upside-down heart; a monster soul, though much too small. He stood there watching this phenomenon in silence for a little while before it was whole, and significantly bigger. He then watched as a red barrier-like outline formed around the soul. It then began to retract toward the blackness, and Sans fought with himself to not stop it. It disappeared into the blackness, and after a few moments Sans felt a strange, new presence. He stepped back from the wall when he noticed a tall, dark shape float out from the blackness. Sans stared as the shape began to bubble, starting as a large black blob of nothing and slowly forming into a discernible figure. Long black tendrils began to pop out of the figure and wrap themselves around it like a cocoon.

Sans stood there watching this bubbling cocoon for about ten minutes before he decided to sit down in front of it. "Wonder how long this'll take..." he thought outloud. He then realized he had no one to talk to, and sighed. "Whelp, nothing better to do than to just take a nap I guess..." With that, Sans crossed his legs, placed his elbows on his knees, and set his head on his hands. He closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overcome him once more.

* * *

 _Sans opened his eyes to see that he was in a lab, likely the one in Hotland where his father worked._ Another memory... _he thought as he walked down the darkened halls. He remembered this particular hallway all too well, having walked it dozens of times in the past when he worked here with Gaster. It led to his father's office. He wondered what was going on in this memory. He shrugged, walking along the hallway until he saw something, which he eventually did. A light shining through a window. He approached the window and peered inside, spotting a skeleton, just taller than Papyrus, wearing a white lab coat, and goggles over his eye sockets._ Dad. _He appeared to be measuring a strange, translucent blueish liquid, pouring it from a flask into a test tube._ Wonder what he's working on... _Sans then watched as another monster walked up to Gaster. It came up to Gaster's chest, was dark green in color, and appeared to look like some sort of fish/lizard hybrid. It had short fins on the back and sides of its head, sharp orange eyes, and a long but slender tail wrapped around its waist._ Huh, wonder why he has his tail like that... _Sans almost did not recognize the man at first._

" _Good evening, Dr. Gaster," said the fish-lizard. Gaster looked at him, a small smile on his face. "How goes the experiment?" he continued to ask. Gaster set down the flask he had, still holding the test tube._

" _It is... not going as well as we had planned, Dr. Drezin. Liquid magic is surprisingly unstable, and does not seem to combine well with most anything," he told the other scientist. "Even some of the machinery we have built specifically for this process is rejecting the combinations." Drezin looked contemplative for a moment. He held out his hand to motion for Gaster to hand him the test tube, which the skeleton did. He pulled what seemed to be a small scanner out of his pocket, and stuck what looked like the antenna of an old radio into the liquid. "I checked the energy levels, they were under 50 per unit," Gaster informed him._

" _Who's magic is this, Gaster?"_

" _My own, sir. I did not put much into it as I did not think we wanted an explosion in the lab today," the Gaster memory told him, lightly chuckling. As Sans watched this event unfold, he suddenly felt something touch his shoulder, and immediately spun around, a short scream escaping him, his left socket now containing a bright blue eye. When he saw who it was, he nearly fainted._

" _Sans? What are you doing here?" Gaster asked. Sans placed a hand over his chest where a heart would be, panting. He forced himself to calm down, catching his breath._

" _I... I have no... idea..." he managed between breaths. After a few seconds, he continued."Dad, good god, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Gaster bowed his head._

" _My apologies, son. That was not my intention. I am surprised you are here at all. This is my memory, and I know we have no connection as we did last time," he told Sans._

" _I'm more surprised we can see each other. And that I didn't see you in the last one... what's going on, anyway?" Sans asked._

" _In the memory, or just in general?"_

" _Uhm... both I guess? Also, how come you're talking in Standard all of a sudden?"_

" _I can at least answer that. Since Frisk's determination is allowing my soul to finally become whole again, all of my memories are coming back, and I finally remember how to speak like this. As for what is going on, it was the day Dr. Drezin and I discovered the determination in a human soul. He had suggested that we try to infuse my magic sample with a human's to see what would happen, and... well, just watch," Gaster suggested. They both looked back through the window, watching as Drezin was using a small needle to extract something from the human soul they had in the lab. The needle began to fill with a yellowish substance, which they'd overheard Drezin and memory-Gaster assume was the magic element of a human soul, as they'd never actually done this type of experimentation before. Drezin walked back to memory-Gaster and stuck the needle into the liquid magic. He gently pressed down on the plunger of the syringe, and they all watched as the blueish liquid started to change to a bright green color. Drezin then stuck the scanner antenna back into the liquid, and almost immediately his eyes widened._

" _Doctor, is something wrong?" asked memory-Gaster._

" _No, Gaster! Quite the opposite! The scanner is reading massive levels of energy suddenly!" Drezin hollered, handing the scanner to Gaster, who also went wide-eyed upon reading it._

" _My word, it is significantly higher than my normal energy levels."_

" _We need to test this concoction right away!" Drezin continued, grabbing a lily that was sitting in the room, dying. He then grabbed a dropper from one of the drawers under the counter against the far wall, dipped it into the liquid magic concoction, and filled it up about halfway. Finally, he turned to the plant._

" _Doctor, are you sure this is a good idea?" memory-Gaster asked, worry in his voice. Drezin nodded._

" _What could possibly go wrong?" He then dripped a single drop into the dirt housing the plant's roots. The dying lily began to perk back up, slowly coming back to life. Drezin turned around to face Gaster and smiled. "See? Nothing bad happ-" he began, but stopped as he watched Gaster's eyes start traveling upward, fear on the skeleton's face. Drezin turned around to see that the lily had suddenly sprouted up to the ceiling, and was now growing along it. They both stepped back and continued to spectate this bizarre scenario as it kept going. Sans heard his father chuckle, then burst into full-on laughter, and turned to him._

" _What's so funny?" he asked._

" _Watching this from an outside perspective makes it a tad comical. We just have this impossibly large flower growing in the lab now," Gaster said to him, still laughing._

" _Does it stop?" Saying nothing, Gaster instead motioned back to the window and Sans turned back around to see that it did indeed finally stop, the flower was now three and a half times its normal size, the stem bent gently along the ceiling. It had to be about twenty-one feet tall from the stem, the flower itself about a two and a half feet in diameter. The two scientists stood there, staring at it, as Gaster himself was laughing at the ordeal. Sans smiled at hearing his father's laughter, and couldn't help but laugh himself. Sans then noticed the memory had stopped. "Wait, that's it? No actual discovery, no naming it?" he blurted out, confused. After Gaster calmed his laughter down, he responded to Sans._

" _No, we did nothing else with the concoction after that, but Dr. Drezin spoke of it for the next few days, telling His Majesty about it, and eventually showing him the plant. He even took the plant to the first floor and placed it by the main entrance. Many people were tripped up by it for some time, even thought they all knew it was there," Gaster explained, a grin still on his face from the thoughts._

" _You guys didn't do anything else with that stuff? Then how did you know it was determination?"_

" _Simple. While we did nothing else with the concoction, we did run a few more tests on the substance taken from the soul, and found that, while it did not contain magic as we initially thought, it did still seem to have the power to revive things that were dying. We never did test it on something dead, however, as we found that to be... unethical," Gaster explained. "We did not call it determination at the time, though. It did not acquire that name until much later."_

" _Ah. So, anymore memories? Ones that you'd be willing to share, anyway?" Sans asked. Gaster shook his head._

" _While, yes, there are many more I would love to share with you, most before you were born, I feel as though we are about to awaken in the real world at any moment." Almost as if by magic from those words, they both watched as the memory world around them faded into grayness. Sans grabbed his father's hand, the first time he'd been able to do that in almost 20 years. Gaster looked at him and smiled. "I shall see you in the real world, my son." The world around them slowly faded._

* * *

 _ **-ns.**_

 _ **Huh? What is it?**_

 _ **-ke up.**_

 _ **Gimme a few more minutes...**_

 _ **-ans!**_

 _ **Come on, I want more sleep...**_

"Sans! Wake up!" came a voice that Sans almost did not recognize. He felt himself being shaken lightly, and gently opened his eyes. He saw a white head hovering above him, two large crack on its head, one above the right socket, one below the left. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his sockets, and got a better look at it. He saw that it was wearing a long, black coat, likely a trench coat, and had a simple white shirt on underneath. He instantly felt his grin somehow grow wider and instead of saying anything, leapt up and wrapped his arms around his father. He nuzzled the older skeleton's chest, tears of joy beginning to form. Gaster, after recovering from the initial shock, hugged his son back. "You have no idea how long I have waited to be able to do this again. How badly I wanted to be able to hold you and your brother," he told the small skeleton. Sans said nothing, simply crying happily into his father's chest, and they stayed like that for some time. After Sans calmed down enough, he pulled his head off Gaster's chest, and looked up at him smiling, tears still gently rolling down his face. Gaster ran a gentle hand over Sans' head, returning the smile. "Perhaps we should leave this room, and meet up with your friends," Gaster suggested quietly, to which Sans nodded. The two skeletons stood up, and headed toward the door. Gaster hesitated.

"Something wrong, dad?" Sans asked. Gaster looked at him.

"I... have no idea how everyone will react to my presence, and Frisk not being there. He did free and befriend everyone, after all," he replied, a form of sadness in his voice.

"It'll be okay. I'll help explain the situation."

"That is not the issue, son. I have been gone for many years, and after suddenly showing back up out of seemingly nowhere, their friend nowhere to be seen, I fear the others will not accept me back so easily." Sans shrugged.

"Well, even if most of 'em don't, Papyrus and I will still be here for ya," he said matter-of-factly. Gaster sighed. "Seriously, dad, don't worry about it, everything'll be fine. They'll understand, they... kinda don't have a choice anyway."

"This is true. All right, let us go, then," Gaster said before grabbing Sans' hand. Sans opened the door to the real world, and the two of them stepped out, prepared to handle whatever happened together.


	6. Chapter 6

The two skeletons made their way through the underground toward the entrance, making small talk about nothing in particular. They walked through the rest of Waterfall, eventually ending up in the hottest part of the underground, filled with lakes of magma. In the distance, they saw the core, a large machine resting atop the largest magma lake, wires and other parts hanging off of it. Sans knew Gaster was proud of his creation, as he remembered the skeleton spending weeks upon weeks working on it. Once the blue prints for it were done, it took months to build, but the payoff in the end had been well worth the wait. It took the geothermal energy from the magma, and converted it to usable energy for the rest of the underground. It was definitely a work of true genius, and Sans couldn't help but feel bad that it likely wouldn't see much more use now that the underground was going vacant.

It was only after that thought went through his mind that Sans noticed Gaster had stopped, and he turned around to face him. He read Gaster's face for a moment, noting that it had a look of pride and sadness, and he couldn't help but think Gaster was thinking the same thing he was. The two stood there in silence, before Sans decided he would try to break the ice.

"Sans, meet me later at the entrance to the underground." Maybe not. Sans looked at Gaster like he'd grown a third eye.

"Wait, uh, why? I thought we'd be going to the surface together," the smaller skeleton replied. Gaster sighed.

"I know, but I have a few things I would like to do before I leave, as I may not have another chance to do them, at least not anytime soon. So please, in a few hours, let us meet outside the throne room. Please?" he pleaded, earning an unsatisfactory look from his son. Sans didn't want to leave him, and Gaster knew that. But he knew Sans would have a few things to say if he knew what Gaster was going to do. Or at least, try to do. After a few moments of silent staring though, Sans hesitantly nodded. "I promise, son, I will meet you there in a while. Go ahead of me and inform your friends that an announcement will be made. But please do not tell them who is going to make it," Gaster continued.

"Okay..." And the next thing Gaster knew, Sans was gone. Gaster then turned around, making his way back toward the lab at the entrance to Hotland, the one he used to work in, where all of his equipment should still have been. He hoped that the scientist that took his place had not moved or messed with anything, as quite a bit of it was dangerous.

When he approached the large, white building, he found himself stopping and staring at it, as he hadn't had the chance to see it when they came through here, seeing as they took the elevators instead. He walked toward the double doors, quickly hoping they weren't locked before they opened. As he stepped inside, he realized that it looked the same, yet different from when he worked here. The stairs to the upper portion of the main floor were replaced with an escalator, and there were odd posters of a humanoid feline all over the walls. From below, he saw there were some bookshelves filled with small looking books, a weird machine that he couldn't tell what it was doing from his vantage point, and yet another poster, which he assumed was another one of that cat-girl due to the pointed ears he saw. Walking to the far end of the lab and passing by a large monitor on the wall, he saw a different poster at the top of the escalator, one portraying a rectangular robot with a single wheel underneath, likely for movement, holding a microphone. He noticed a corner of it was folded over and that it had writing on it, but it was far too small for him to be able to read it from where he was. Feeling he'd taken in enough of the sights, he made his way back to the opposite end of the main floor. He spotted the door he was looking for, the door that held the elevator that led to the lower portions of the lab, and stepped inside.

Once the elevator reached its destination, the door opened and he noticed almost instantly that something was off. It was darker than he ever remembered it being, and the entire area gave off an eerie feeling that he couldn't shake. _What on earth...?_ He suddenly found himself shivering, even if just slightly. _I do not like this feeling. What has happened down here?_ In his soul, he felt a sense of mild fear and discomfort. _Frisk, you know what is down here, do you not?_ He got no new sensation from his soul, so he knew he'd be going at this alone.

Ignoring the sudden overhanging dread, he made his way down a long hallway, passing a few doors along the right-hand wall, none of them what he was looking for. The more he walked, the heavier the sense of dread became. He now wanted to get what he came for and leave as soon as he could. He noticed that the farther down the hall he went, the darker it slowly became, eventually to a point where he needed to feel his way down the rest of the hall. For a brief moment, Gaster thought to use his magic to light up the hallway, but when he tried, a sharp pain shot down his spine, causing him to nearly collapse on the ground. Once he found out he was not in a condition to be using his magic quite yet, he sighed in frustration and continued about his way.

After continuing this eerie walk for close to an hour, Gaster became annoyed that he still could not see, and frustrated that he had no way of lighting anything up. He was immediately glad that he'd installed braille labels on the doors, though he quickly realized that may not matter if none of the lights in this part of the lab didn't work at all. What was the point of knowing what room was what if he had no way of seeing things? He then walked face first into a wall, stumbled back a bit and rubbed the spot on his skull that had collided. He felt to his right. A wall. Then to his left. Another wall. He felt the wall in front of him. Yet another wall. _What in the world? Why is there just a dead-end here?_ He growled quietly.

He heard something growl back. He tensed up, now slightly fearful that something behind him may be out to bring him harm. He found himself wishing he could use his magic, mentally cursing himself for being unprepared. _Gaster, you fool, you should have known better! Why did you not prepare before trekking down here?_ He backed away from the thing he could not see, back into the dead end. He stared into the darkness before him at this thing he could not see, awaiting what he would accept as his new fate. He heard the growl once more, and closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

He suddenly felt something wet touch the top of his skull. Multiple times. He then felt something rub against him. He opened his eyes, and was face to face with a large, white creature. When he saw that it had no face, he nearly screamed. He then felt something in his chest, a calming sensation, and suddenly found himself actually reacting to it. He calmed almost completely, and the strange creature before him licked his face with a bizarre tongue from a weird orifice. Knowing that it meant no harm, he found himself chuckling at the odd scenario before him. He suddenly began to feel some of his strength return, and decided to spawn a magic bone for the creature to play with, throwing it across the hallway. The creature ran after it, slobbering the entire way. _That was an amalgamate?_ He pondered, getting a confirming sensation from within his chest. He nodded in thanks to Frisk's presence, and tried once more shed some light on the area, and was finally successful in activating one of his magical eyes. _At least now I have enough light that I can see where I am going._

He walked down the way he'd come, finally able to truly see the rooms he'd passed by earlier. When he found the door he was looking for, he entered the room and was suddenly met with the smell of chemicals. He felt oddly at home. He thought to reach for the light switch, but decided against it as he did not want to draw unnecessary attention to himself, so he kept the overhead lights off and continued to use the light from his magic eye. He walked up to a set of shelves that contained various colored liquids in varying sized vials and beakers. He looked at the labels of most of the containers, looking setting down what he didn't need, and pocketing what he did. When he grabbed what he was after in that room, he left in a hurry and headed back toward the elevator. He leaned forward to press the button for the main floor, but froze for a moment. There was one more thing he needed, and he'd have to go farther into the lower labs to find it.

 _The lower labs... where the accident occurred. That is the last place I want to be right now, but I cannot forget that last piece of this metaphorical puzzle. My memories are telling me not to go, but the scientist in me is screaming for closure. I need to know if it was truly an accident, or..._ He sighed, hesitating. He really did not want to do this, but he realized he had little choice. He pressed the button, heading deeper into the labs. He leaned back against the far rear wall as the elevator headed to its destination. He was nervous, maybe a little frightened, about what he might find down below. _Something Frisk suggested to me makes me wonder if there was perhaps a culprit behind my demise._ He wondered if the security tapes even lasted that long.

After the long, quiet elevator ride, the car came to a slow stop, and the doors opened with a ding. He was relieved to see the lights in this part of the lab still worked. Stepping out of the car, he looked around the decently sized open work space. He saw the tables and various tools scattered about the room, blueprints and other assorted notes on the tables and benches, and a few computers that appeared to be far too new for them to be the ones he'd used when he worked here. He frowned, thinking that switching over the computers may have erased the old security tapes after all. He approached the closest computer and tapped the keyboard to bring it out of its current sleep state. He watched as the monitor sprang to life, displaying various pieces of data and other seemingly sensitive material. He then froze, realizing he'd not needed his security badge to come down to this level. He knew who the current royal scientist was, and hoped that she really was not so ignorant as to leave such vital information basically laying out in the open for anyone to view. Sighing yet again, he ignored that for now and started going through to files to find the information he was after.

Gaster spent almost 30 minutes looking for the files, and when he found them, he smiled. _Right where I left it!_ He turned around and began walking toward a storage closet. His eyes wandered to his left, where he spotted another console, and he came to a sudden halt. The monitor was already on, and he didn't recall even touching that particular system. He cocked his head slightly, but ignored it for now and turned his attention to the closet in front of him. He opened the door, and saw that, while much of what was in there was left untouched, none of it was what he needed. _Perhaps not..._ He searched through all the tools and such that was in the closet, growling to himself when he was absolutely certain the thing he needed was not in there. He stepped back out of the closet, and ran a hand down his face in frustration. _Forget it, I shall do it the old-fashioned way, I do not need that machine._ He turned to leave, but stopped when his eyes once again came into contact with the console that seemed to activate itself. Suddenly, and for seemingly no reason, he began to feel fearful once more. He approached the console, and began going through the folders slowly.

After searching for a few minutes, he found a folder entitled "Security Footage". Slowly, he dragged the pointer of the mouse over the folder and clicked on it. After waiting a while for the system to bring up all the files inside the folder, he noticed that the security footage, to his surprise, went so far back that he saw stills of the royal scientist even before him. _Doctor, you are smarter than I gave you credit for, you did save all the footage!_ He was surprised by how happy that made him, and he began scrolling through the various videos, and eventually came upon the time frame he was looking for, growing slightly more nervous as he looked at the different dates.

However, he noticed that the particular day he was looking for was not there. He stared at the monitor, a mixture of disbelief and dread suddenly washing over him. _How is that specific footage gone? And only for that day?_ He went through the rest of the dates for that week, that month, hell even that year, and that was the only day missing. His disbelief and dread began to turn into frustration and confusion. He checked the rest of the folders on the system and found nothing. He glanced around the room one more time to see how many other consoles there were, counting two besides the two he'd already checked. He knew it was a stretch, but figured he'd lose nothing by checking the other two consoles, finding nothing. Sighing in defeat, he slowly made his way back to the elevator.

As Gaster rode the elevator back up to the main floor, an idea struck him. _Perhaps the console on the main floor has that footage? Maybe it was just moved for evaluation by the current scientist._ When he reached the main floor, he hurried over to the large monitor, and saw himself in the video feed. He looked at the controls for the console, quickly learning how to operate the machine, and started going through the files on it. He quickly went through all the files, as there weren't that many, and was disappointed to learn that the file he wanted was not there, either. He sighed in defeat, and before deciding to finally leave the lab, double checked his pockets to make sure he had what he needed.

Gaster walked hurriedly to his next destination. He thought to take the river person's boat down the channel back to Snowdin, but the river person was not present, so he was forced to walk through Waterfall. After nearly an hour, he finally reached the edge of the purple caverns, and was met with a chilling wind. _Snowdin. I have not been here since before the accident. I wonder how much it has changed, if at all._ As he made his way through the winter wonderland, he thought about how he was going to proceed with his next step in his plans. As he was on this thought, he froze. _My old home. I wonder if the boys took good care of it. It does not appear to be damaged in any capacity on the outside._ He reached for the doorknob, but decided against entering the building, as he realized he had little time to spare. Then a thought struck him. _There is one more component that I need if this is to work. I wonder if Sans left any of that alone..._ He walked around to the backside of the two-story home, and tried to open that door. He frowned. _Locked... Sans likely has the key..._ He closed his eyes, and concentrated on his soul.

When he reopened his eyes, he smiled when he saw that it worked. He was now inside the lab area, glad that he had teleportation powers. He walked over to the counter, opened the middle drawer, and was happy to see what he was after; a needle, specially designed to inject liquids into things that had no blood, almost like a bone marrow needle. He pocketed the needle, and headed back outside. Satisfied that he finally had everything, he made his way farther into Snowdin. Gaster walked completely silently and completely uninterrupted toward his ultimate destination; the door to the ruins of Home. Walking through the ruins, he noticed that there were still some smaller monsters here. He figured they were too scared to actually leave the underground, especially because a lot of them were reluctant to even leave the ruins. He continued walking, and when he finally reached the beginning of the ruins, where Frisk had initially fallen into the underground, he looked around, seeing nothing but a small bed of golden flowers. He frowned, approaching the bed of flowers with caution, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He thought for a moment.

"... Asriel? Are you here, your highness?" he called out. He waited a moment, hoping for a response. After a few moments, before he could call out once more, he heard a very high-pitched, maniacal laugh. He swiftly turned around, saw nothing at first, then quickly glanced down. "Ah, there you are!" Another laugh echoed through the cavern.

"So, the old fool decided to show back up in the real world, huh? Got sick of being by your little lonesome all that time? Got tired of seeing your little freaks grow up without daddy?" came a mocking voice out the larger golden flower. "And don't call me Asriel, that's not my name anymore," it continued. Gaster chuckled.

"My apologies, your highness, I was unaware that you had changed your name. However, I do not care what you are currently going by, as I have always known you as Asriel, and as such, will likely continue to call you that regardless of what you want," he said, never taking his eyes off the flower, and watching as its face changed from disbelief, to frustration, to anger.

"Oh, is _that_ what you think, papa trashbag?" he growled.

"Slinging insults, how juvenile. I thought Lady Toriel had raised you better than that," Gaster retorted. The flower's face became even angrier.

"Shut your trap, old man! The only reason you're even here is because Frisk is a careless idiot! He decided to do something so dumb without even really thinking about the consequences! All because he wanted to 'save everyone'! How stupid," it yelled. Gaster chuckled once more, earning a confused look from the flower. "What're you laughing at?"

"On the contrary, your highness, Frisk had everything planned out from a very early stage. He even asked of a way to save you."

"Pffft, I don't want or need your help! And stop calling me 'your highness'! It's sickening!" Gaster looked at the flower, then knelt down and began pulling the small vials and needle he'd acquired out of his pockets. The flower recognized what the weird substances were almost instantly. "You don't actually think that crap is going to work, do you?" Gaster opened an empty vial, grabbed a dropper, and began measuring the three different substances he had, mixing the perfect amounts of each into the empty vial.

"No, I do not _think_ it will," he replied, earning a grin and the beginning of a laugh from the flower. "I _know_ it will." It stopped laughing, looking confused once more.

"What? How on earth do you know that?" Gaster smiled at him.

"It has been done before."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's notes: Holy crap, guys, I'm so sorry this is late, I got hit with writer's block again, and this chapter is so much shorter than I wanted it to be. But I can't really add to it because of what's going to happen in the next chapter. To make it up to you all, I'm going to make the next chapter longer than normal. Again, I'm so sorry for the delay. D: (Also I hope this chapter makes sense, since I had to rewrite part of it on the fly due to a near continuity error on my part lol)

* * *

Sans teleported to the entrance to the underground, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. He began thinking. _What would my dad need to do? He doesn't really have much in the way of possessions left anymore, Paps and I took most of it. The rest belonged to the lab anyway. So he can't really be after belongings. Is anyone of importance still underground? There's a few Froggits, some Whimsuns, I'm sure there're some Ice Caps still down there, probably Snowdrake and his family... no one he'd have really been associated with before the accident. All the important stuff that was in the lab is with Alphys. So... what?_

He decided he needed to know, so after some more thought about privacy and safety, he nodded to himself and teleported back to Hotland, outside the lab. He approached the doors, noticed they were unlocked, shrugged, and went inside. He knew one of the first places to search would be the lab. When he was inside, he noticed the lights were already on, and knew Alphys wouldn't have left them on, so he felt he was in the right area. He passed by a large monitor on the wall, noting that it was showing himself. _Alph, were you really that paranoid? I don't remember that being there before._ He ignored it, walking toward the elevator to the lower parts of the lab, and tried to open the doors. He sighed when they stayed closed, and figured his father was already on it.

"What the hell are you searching for, dad?" he whispered. He thought to teleport onto the elevator car, but decided against giving Gaster a heart attack. He then heard the motor kick on, pressed the side of his skull to the door, and heard the car moving, and it sounded like it was heading... _down? Dad, what are you doing?_ He teleported to the bottom floor, and flicked on the light switch. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, swiftly turning his head toward where it was, saw nothing, and figured it was just a figment of his imagination. He noticed that the floor had not been untouched since the accident, with blueprints and various notes spread all over the few tables. He noticed there were new computer consoles down here, not remembering them being there before. "That's... strange. Wonder why she set these up down here." He sighed. "Haven't been down here in a long time... it's weird bein' here again." He decided to look more thoroughly around the room, but saw nothing of value. He turned around and pressed his skull against the elevator doors, listening for the motor of the car, and by the sounds of it, he estimated that he had about five minutes to look around.

"Not that there'd be much here anyway, but hell, why not." Sans walked up to a table, reading over some of the notes. As he read them, having a harder time than expected because they were written in Wingdings, he realized that the notes were for the machine in his lab. He quickly pocketed the notes and moved on to the blueprints on the adjacent table. "Same ones I have in the lab, I bet." He looked at them, and sure enough they were exactly the same. "The ones I copied years ago, heh. Apparently she didn't really clean up afterward."

He then remembered the strange movement he saw, looked back to where he'd seen it, and realized the console there was on. "Someone _was_ using it... who?" He approached the console and saw that a folder was opened that seemed to be security footage. "Wha...?" He looked at a few of the dates for the footage, and saw that it somehow skipped a day. "Strange, you'd think they'd have that stuff all the time. Maybe the camera just... wasn't working that day...?" He shrugged, unsure if he should bother caring about that right now, and ultimately decided it wasn't worth it for the time being. He then heard a clunking sound, and realized the elevator had reached its destination. He teleported out of the room, and back to the main floor.

When Sans returned to the main floor, he saw more movement out of the corner of his eye, and once again turned toward it, only to see nothing. He dropped his eternal grin just slightly, silently cursing that he was incapable of actually frowning. "Alright, who's there?" he called out. Receiving no response after a few seconds, he growled. _I know I saw something this time, and it was probably the same thing I saw a few minutes ago._ He then approached the large monitor, deciding he would try to look for security footage. He took one look at the control panel, though, and decided it wasn't worth it. He headed out the doors, felt his foot contact with something, and before he knew it, he was face-first in hot dirt. He quickly picked up his head, glanced to his left, then to his right, and was face-to-face with a golden flower. The flower then laughed.

"Well, well, if it isn't smiley trash bag! Trying to spy on me, huh?" the flower then said. Sans tried to move his foot, and the flower tightened the vine that was now wrapped around it. "Nope! Not gonna let you go!"

"Heh, says you," Sans replied, then teleported himself back up, towering behind the flower. Said flower ducked into the dirt, and reappeared a few feet away from Sans.

"Man, you're really no fun to play with, you know that? Always teleporting around and getting out of my traps and vines. How pathetic. Can't even take time out of your day to have some fun," the flower said to him. Sans shrugged.

"Sorry, never really been one for puzzles. Besides, you need some work, maybe you could take some lessons from my bro. Y'know? The one you keep tricking?" The flower smiled sadistically.

"Oh, he's more fun to play with than you, at least he falls for my traps! He's dumb enough to never see them coming, even though they're the same every single time!" it said, and began laughing maniacally. Sans flared his eye, and grabbed the flower's soul, causing it to stop laughing immediately. He lifted the small flower out of the ground, which then caused the vine to disappear, and slammed it back down.

" **Don't you dare talk about Papyrus that way ever again** ," he told the flower, who grinned in return. The flower re-rooted itself, then disappeared once more. Sans looked around, and realized that it had run off. "Chicken shit little flower," he said, turning around to face the lab doors. He sighed, figuring his father could take care of himself, then teleported to his and Papyrus's old house.

He stood outside the house, reminiscing about their life, and how it had changed that day. He hadn't been present for the accident, as he was at school that day, but he remembered very clearly being called out of his classroom by a royal guard.

" _Sans, correct?"_

" _Yes, sir."_

" _We have some... terrible news. Your father, Dr. W.D. Gaster..."_

" _What, what happened to dad?"_

" _There was an accident at the lab, his remains cannot be found, and we do not know what exactly happened, we are still examining the security footage."_

" _Accident...? Can't find his remains...? No..."_

He remembered being terrified upon hearing that news. He'd run out of the room, into the classroom where Papyrus was, grabbed his brother, and run as fast as he could to Hotland, trying the entire time to calm his brother, who was in hysterics. When he'd entered, he'd seen the crowd of other people, many of them colleagues of his father's. He remembered seeing Asgore, for the first time in tears. Not quite bawling, but he was definitely affected by the loss.

The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized someone who should have been there, was not there.

"Why is that even bothering me? I didn't remember her, I still don't... Actually, why can't I remember her? All I can remember is what I saw in that weird memory of dad's. I don't remember her ever being present," he pondered. He stood there, arms now crossed, eye sockets closed tightly, running through all of his memories, but nothing came up. He couldn't remember her face, her voice, her appearance... but he knew she existed, and only because of his father. He shook his head. "It's not even worth worrying over right now," he said. He decided to forget that for now, and stepped inside the house. He looked around; the place was fairly barren, as he and Papyrus had already moved most of their belongings to their place on the surface. However, there was one thing he knew had been untouched, and only because Papyrus didn't know it was there; a small hidden compartment behind the large bone painting that used to hang on their top floor's wall, between their bedrooms. He thought it was funny how his brother had never known about it, even after taking the painting down, but he also knew that Papyrus wasn't the most observant person ever. Sans headed up the stairs to the compartment, and opened it. He grabbed the small box that was inside and opened that, grabbing a thin, silver chain that had a golden locket hanging off it. The design on the locket was what the monsters knew as the Delta Rune, the royal family's insignia.

Sans had always known the locket was there, but he never knew where it had come from. He'd seen a couple letters carved onto the back of the locket, and always wondered what they were. He flipped the locket over and looked at the letters, which he assumed were someone's initials or something.

"C.D. … I still have no idea what that means. Wonder if dad has any idea who's this is, or why we have it," he said to no one. He shrugged and pocketed the necklace. Glancing around the house once more to make sure nothing else of value was in there, he nodded to himself and teleported back to the entrance to the underground.

Upon returning to the entrance, Sans spotted someone he wasn't expecting to see. He blinked, many times, making sure he wasn't seeing things. "Um... Frisk?" he called out. The one he was talking to turned around and vanished, but not before giving Sans a rather creepy smile. He felt shivers go down his spine, then shuddered. "Why the fuck does it seem like I'm going crazy, all of a sudden?" he said to no one, and headed back to the cliff outside the cave. He then froze. Strange images started flashing through his mind. Memories he didn't actually remember. Memories of a life he'd not lived.

The next thing Sans knew was darkness.


End file.
